


The Heart of a Phoenix

by EvenescentTranquility



Series: One Piece Soulmate One Shots! [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/F, F/M, Fawkes the Phoenix with his magical Phoenix powers, Genderbending, Harry Needs a Hug, M/M, Romance, Sorry Not Sorry, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, This Really Needed to Happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-14 07:17:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 77,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10531584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvenescentTranquility/pseuds/EvenescentTranquility
Summary: When Violetta Potter told Fawkes she would do anything to be free she didn’t expect him to dump her in a new dimension or in the lap of a pirate, her soul mate apparently.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tsume_Yuki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsume_Yuki/gifts).



> Hey all, so I've had this little plot bunny sitting on my hard drive forever, but read a snippet on Tsume_Yuki's tumblr that inspired me to actually sit down and write it. It was intended to be a one shot, but it became a monster and got away from me so now it has to be multi-chaptered whoops! ~~sorry not sorry~~ enjoy!

Violetta Janine Potter stood at the top of the astronomy tower staring out over the grounds of the castle she’d once called home. The place that had become her prison the way #4 Privett Drive had once been.

It had started innocently enough, with McGonagall asking for her help along with Ron and Hermione to rebuild the castle after the final battle. From there she’d been asked (read guilted) into finishing her Hogwarts education by Hermione, and then Hermione, McGonagall, and Kingsley had teamed up on her to convince her to become the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

She hadn’t minded really. After all she’d been a bit aimless and she’d enjoyed teaching the DA during the time when Umbridge had ruled the school. Plus Hogwarts had always felt like home to her. Thus she set about her task with a will, teaching all she could to the students, devising lesson plans, grading papers, dispensing advice and in her free time exploring the castle and learning new things.

It was during her exploration of the grounds one day that Fawkes had found her. No one had seen the phoenix since Dumbledore’s funeral and personally she thought the bird was off doing his own version of mourning for the venerated headmaster. She’d honestly not expected to see him again, and yet there he’d been.

He’d managed to convey to her, through a strange version of sign language and her own ability to understand animals in general that he’d like to stay with her. She’d agreed with this wholeheartedly, having wanted a new familiar but not having had the heart to replace Hedwig as of yet.

Fawkes had become an integral part of her life then, her constant companion the same way Hedwig had been, and the only one to stay by her side as around her friends and colleagues seemed to move on with their lives, settling down, getting married and having children with their soulmates, while she felt stuck unsure what to do with herself.

He helped ease her loneliness and taught her things about Hogwarts she never would’ve guessed, showing her secret rooms and passages, along with being her ambassador whenever she went into the Forbidden Forest. He kept her company as she graded papers, supervised her classes, and soothed her nightmares of the war with softly sung birdsong.

Between Fawkes and the children, whom she really enjoyed teaching she was content, and probably could’ve stayed content for the rest of her life, but it wasn’t to be. It turned out one of the major reasons her friends had been so insistent on her taking the Defense professorship was so that they could keep an eye on her.

Ron and Hermione had apparently spilled their guts about the entirety of the Horcrux hunt including the information on the Deathly Hallows and that she’d possessed them all at one point. It had come as a shock to her, but that wasn’t even scraping the surface of the depths of their betrayal. Which she wouldn’t find out about until being called into a full meeting of the Wizengamot to hear her sentence handed down.

Apparently they’d spent the time between the Final Battle and that very moment working on legislature meant to keep her from becoming “the next big threat to the Magical Population of England,” while simultaneously trying to isolate her into never finding her soulmate lest they become an uncontrollable influence on her.

It was only because she’d been the best Defense professor Hogwarts had ever had, that kept her from being locked into the depths of the Department of Mysteries for the rest of her unnaturally long life. Apparently McGonagall and Kingsley were impressed enough with the competent and powerful students that she’d churned out over the years that they wanted her to keep doing it.

Thus she’d been given a choice. Spend the rest of her life “aiding in the demystification of the powers of the Deathly Hallows,” or be confined to Hogwarts Grounds instead. It hadn’t been much of a choice, either be imprisoned and experimented on for the rest of her life, or imprisoned and coerced into helping them churn out perfect light soldiers for their cause. 

That’s not what they had said of course, something about the “betterment of society” and “in her best interests”. However the war had stripped her of the naivety that had once inspired her to become a martyr and she could read between the lines very clearly. They didn’t trust her, hell they didn’t even like her, and every single one of her so-called friends and allies had conspired behind her back to take away what little freedom she’d thought she’d finally won for herself.

In the end she’d chosen the Hogwarts option, muttering some appeasing words about “aiding the children” and such. She wasn’t all too sure what she’d actually said, having been incredibly numb by then, but it seemed to have pleased them. Hell Kingsley had even shaken her hand and told her he appreciated her understanding the situation.

She’d been escorted back to the castle and back to her rooms, and then made her way to the Room of Requirement, which had long since repaired itself. There, safe without an audience, she’d managed to throw a tantrum of epic proportions, hurling around the darkest and most dangerous spells she’d learned from years of study to become an expert in her post, screaming her rage and betrayal to the heavens.

When she’d finally calmed down, she realized she was wasting her time. She needed to get out of here, before they could get the wards up to keep her here forever. She wasn’t about to be their docile little lamb, at least not this time. Unfortunately the realization had come too late, and by the time she’d made it out of the room, packed her things, and got ready to run the wards were already up.

She’d tried to break through them, but instead of breaking or even bending they seemed to absorb her magic. Hermione had shown up then, and asked what she was doing. She’d mentioned being curious about the wards that would allow others to pass through easily but keep her locked up and “safe”.

As usual her know-it-all former friend had been more than happy to explain, telling her that the wards were tied to her blood, so of course they wouldn’t let her through. She’d finished the whole lecture off by assuring her they were still on for tea on Saturday, as if she hadn’t just finished betraying her in the worst possible ways, by not only conspiring for all this to happen, but designing the wards and stealing her blood.

Violetta had just nodded and Hermione had gone on her way, passing freely through the wards, headed home to her loving soulmate, and leaving her here alone, trapped, and anguished.

That had been almost three months ago, and now Violetta was stood at the top of the Astronomy tower, as high as she could go, sequestered away from everyone and everything. Her original anger had given way to being numb, because there was nothing she could do.

Sure she was strong enough she could slaughter everyone in the castle from McGonagall down to the last little First year student, but what good would that do her? McGonagall may deserve the retribution but the children were innocent. In fact many of them had approached her, to ask what was wrong, or try to help her. A couple of her seventh years had even promised to see what they could do to try to change things for her.

A part of her had been touched by their kindness, but another part, the more world weary and tired part had simply brushed them off. There was nothing anyone could do for her now. She was well and truly stuck.

The soft sweet sound of phoenix song made her glance up in surprise as Fawkes appeared in a flash of red gold fire. She’d honestly thought her companion might’ve abandoned her too, after he’d disappeared on her right after she’d told him about her new imprisonment.

At that point she’d been so numb that even though his loss was another blow, she hadn’t been able to feel much of anything, much less acknowledge his absence, which is why it came as a shock to see him again now.

“Fawkes?” she asked surprised, “What are you doing here?”

The phoenix cooed at her, and she could see both affection and sorrow on his face as he gently landed on her shoulder and placed his cheek next to hers, singing softly into her ear. It was like the one touch broke the hold she’d kept on the icy shell of numbness that had protected her from the storm of rage, hurt and pain.

Slowly she slid to the floor, holding the surprisingly light bird in her lap and sobbed into his feathers, great, wracking, ugly sobs of desolation, all the while the bird sung soothing songs for her, gently preening her hair with his beak as if to encourage her to get it all out.

She didn’t know how long they sat there together, only that by the time she was done she was feeling rather cathartic. She’d learned when Sirius died that it wasn’t good to hold on to those kinds of emotions the way she had, bottling them up almost always led to an explosion or breakdown of epic proportions. 

Luckily this one had just led to a crying jag on the astronomy tower, and not something worse, like after Sirius had died and she tried to use the Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix, or during the stress of sixth year when she’d used Sectumsempra on Malfoy. 

She’d regretted both of those deeply, the Bellatrix one more because it got her in a lot of trouble, and had actually been used as part of the reasoning to keep her under watch, than because she regretted trying to hurt the bitch. She’d killed Sirius after all, and even now was one of the most twisted individuals she’d ever met outside of Voldemort himself. She just regretted not using a more legal spell to do it.

The Malfoy one she regretted in the much more sincere sense in that he hadn’t deserved to be hurt like that. Sure he was an asshole and her self-proclaimed rival, but he hadn’t deserved to nearly be killed by a nasty curse. Especially since he’d been suffering just as much as she had that year.

When she found out that the only reason Malfoy had done what he had that year was because Voldemort had threatened his family she had instantly forgiven him. How could she not? She would’ve done the same thing under the circumstances. Apparently though her testimony on his and Narcissa Malfoy’s behalf had been just one more strike against her in the end.

“What am I going to do Fawkes?” she asked the phoenix miserably as her thoughts turned back to her situation.

“All I ever wanted was to be free, free to have a normal life out from under the shadow of Voldemort the Mad, free to be myself and to do the things I wanted for once, free to maybe find my soulmate and fall in love, and now here I am, caged once again,” she told him bitterly.

The phoenix trilled at her a questioning sound, that she’d learned to interpret over the years they’d spent together, had her wiping her eyes and casting a freshening spell on her face, in light of his offer.

“Okay, you have an idea? I’m willing to do anything at this point to have my freedom,” she told him seriously.

He trilled again, a very serious sound as he peered up at her from her lap, a stern expression on his face.

“Yes Fawkes, anything,” she promised, and meant it.

The phoenix nodded to himself, and the two of them disappeared in a flash of flames, leaving a stunned seventh year student behind.

She’d been sent by professor McGonagall to retrieve her favorite professor for a staff meeting. However when she’d arrived she’d been shocked to see the strong, unflappable, kind professor huddled into a ball, cuddling her pet phoenix like a stuffed toy and crying her eyes out.

She’d stepped away, caught between giving her professor privacy and fulfilling her job from McGonagall, but eventually she’d hardened herself. McGonagall could wait. Professor Potter deserved a chance to cry. Hell she deserved a heck of a lot more than that, and she certainly didn’t deserve what had been done to her.

She and a bunch of her fellow students had been scheming since the declaration of Professor Potter’s imprisonment began on how to get her freedom for her again. The professor was much beloved after all, a fantastic teacher, with no house prejudice, who always kept her door open for students in need. She’d always been willing to help them, and they in turn had felt the need to help her.

Unfortunately most of their ideas would take years to properly implement, and while they wouldn’t mind the work, they could see the life draining out of their professor already. Frankly she hadn’t been sure the torn down woman would last long enough for them to get her, her freedom.

Still she was determined to try, and so were the others. However it seemed things had already been taken care of. Her heart had nearly broken for her poor professor as she confessed to only wanting to be free, but then the phoenix had done something, and the two had vanished in a whorl of flames.

Hesitantly moving on to the open platform of the Astronomy tower, she took a good look around, but it seemed the professor was well and truly gone. To where she didn’t know, but she hoped wherever it was she was happy and free.

Determined to do her part to keep others off the professor’s trail, she proceeded to track down her group of friends, the ones who had agreed to help professor Potter with her, and they came up with a solid alibi and a plan that would hopefully give the professor a good head start before anyone noticed she was missing.

As they proceeded to launch a prank war on the staff the likes of which hadn’t been seen since Fred and George Weasley’s attacks on Umbridge, with the entirety of the castle, including ghosts and Peeves joining in, she promised herself that she wouldn’t forget professor Potter.

Even though she was gone somewhere where she would hopefully be free, she was still going to change things. Catching the eyes of her soulmate across the field of destruction they’d caused she saw her fierce burning gaze and knew she understood. The two of them would change the world, so the professor Potter’s of the world could have their freedom.

…~oO*Oo~…

“Marco, you really need to relax,” Thatch told his friend, having been the one elected by the other Division Commanders to try and talk to their agitated brother.

He couldn’t really blame the other man for being anxious. Just last week, for the first time ever they’d met a phoenix. The creature had appeared in a flash of red and gold flames, and had landed on the tip of the mast, just above their flag. Needless to say the men on watch had been really startled, and chaos had ensued as they tried to figure out where the strange new bird had come from, and what it wanted.

After all it was apparently able to create it’s own flames, and therefore could be extremely bad news. Fire plus wooden Moby Dick equals trouble, or at least that was Thatch’s way of thinking. Unfortunately since it was at the at the top of the highest mast no one wanted to climb up, and he certainly couldn’t blame them. It definitely wouldn’t be safe, especially if the bird attacked, and so they continued to run around like headless chickens trying to figure out what to do.

The whole time the bird in question had simply sat on the mast observing them all with intelligent eyes. Looking back on it, Thatch was pretty sure the damn thing was laughing at them.

You’d think that being one of the strongest and longest standing crews in the New World the Whitebeard Pirates would’ve handled the surprise with a little more dignity. After all they saw and did impossible things every day. Normally you’d be correct, but some of the divisions tended to be a little more excitable than others, and while he would admit nothing it may or may not have been his division on watch duty that day.

Eventually some clever crewmember had the bright idea to fetch Marco, thinking maybe he could fly up to investigate. Needless to say the First Division Commander had not been amused to be disturbed from his rooms. Unfortunately the strange firebird had managed to show up on one of Marco’s very few days off. If things hadn’t turned out the way they had, Thatch was pretty sure Marco would’ve tried to roast him, despite the fact his flames were only meant for healing.

Strangely though the minute the First Division Commander had arrived on deck the creature had launched itself downwards and come to hover in front of Marco’s face making trilling sounds that were at once both extremely familiar and strangely foreign.

Marco had gone white with shock, and staggered back in surprise. The group of them watching had become anxious and immediately moved to intercept the bird, to capture it or just scare it off, to get it away from their First Division Commander. Marco was a New World Veteran, having been sailing with Oyaji since the very beginning, that something would cause him to loose his composure was definitely cause for alarm. 

Thatch himself had been with the Whitebeard pirates for over two decades now, and he’d only seen his brother loose his composure like that a handful of times. Once when Oyaji had been badly hurt, once when a foolish crewmember had almost gotten himself and his entire division killed, and once when Marco had lost ten members of his Division in a surprise attack by Marines. Needless to say he’d been more than a little concerned. However Marco had immediately told them to back off, his eyes locked with the strange bird’s.

Thatch could still remember the awe in his unflappable brother’s voice as he revealed what the creature was, a phoenix. Which in hindsight probably should’ve been obvious but in his defense Thatch had thought all phoenixes were going to be blue and gold like Marco if they ever found another one.

Still it was kind of a miracle that they’d found one at all. He knew for a fact that Marco had been searching for years in an attempt to find some. Now here it was, having almost literally landed in his lap.

To their surprise and Marco’s delight the creature had stuck around for over a week. They’d all managed to be extremely careful around the bird, as it became pretty obvious that Marco was very protective of the thing. The only people he allowed close to it were Oyaji and the Division Commanders. Thatch couldn’t blame him, the fiery creature was pretty damn amazing.

That first night it had stayed, sometime around twilight it had started to sing. The song was the most beautiful thing Thatch had ever heard, full of peace and hope and love. It was uplifting and reminded him strongly of the love he had for his family. More than a few of them had been near tears or outright sobbing by the end of it.

Luckily Thatch had managed to save his dignity by asking Marco, who was smirking at him in amusement, probably for being a sap, why he couldn’t sing like that.

Marco had not been amused. Not everyone knew it, but despite being a bird Zoan outside of his phoenix form the First Division commander sang like a dying frog. Information Thatch was only privy to, thanks to the questionable privilege of standing close to him when the entire crew was singing happy birthday to Oyaji one year.

If the result of that particular tease had been Marco informing Thatch he’d be cleaning the bathrooms on the next chore rotation, well his pride was at least intact and he’d get Marco back for it later.

Unfortunately the day before yesterday Marco’s fellow avian had decided to take off without warning, and hadn’t been seen since. Marco wasn’t the only one disappointed, more than a few of his brothers, including Thatch himself, had been hoping the interesting firebird would stick around, maybe even become an unofficial mascot for the crew like Oyaji’s dog Stefan.

Luckily Oyaji had been easy to convince that they should hang around the area for a bit, just in case the phoenix came back. Unfortunately they couldn’t stay for too long as they were in the middle of the open ocean with no nearby island available for supplies. Thus they could only stay a week or so at most. 

Ever since they’d gotten confirmation they could stay Marco had been pacing around the deck, eyes constantly on the sky. He hadn’t even paused at meal times, and probably wouldn’t have eaten if Thatch hadn’t insured he was brought food. He wasn’t entirely sure his friend had slept either, though he was pretty sure he hadn’t.

“I’m sure your fellow turkey will return,” Thatch assured as best he could, “He seemed to really like you.”

And it was true, the entire time the firebird had stayed with them, it had been at Marco’s side, following him around everywhere or riding around on his shoulder and keeping up a steady stream of trilling coos, and warbles, which Marco had answered back to in his own human voice, his tone low and quiet.

His brother had revealed that while he couldn’t understand completely what the other bird was saying, he could get general ideas and feelings from it, and he’d been taking advantage of the phoenix’s presence to finally get some of his questions answered.

It turned out that phoenix’s were extremely intelligent, something some of his brothers had found out the hard way. They’d been speculating on whether a phoenix shed feathers and if they might be able to pluck one to see if it caught fire, which was a terrible idea as both Marco and the phoenix were in hearing range. Before Marco could even open his mouth though, the seat of the pants of both conspirers caught aflame, and they’d ended up running around the deck like idiots before they realized that the fire wasn’t actually burning them.

Both Marco and Thatch had been extremely amused, and probably would have been even if it had been real fire. They were pirates after all, and Thatch would’ve loved to see what the nurses had to say when asked to treat their burned asses. Still it was terribly funny, and Marco had added even more punishment on top of the humiliation to keep anyone from even thinking they could try something like that with his fellow phoenix.

It was good that the bird could answer some of Marco’s questions itself though. Apparently after discovering just what he was Marco had scoured all kinds of books, and Oyaji had helped him journey all over the place looking for answers on the capabilities of phoenixes. Unfortunately unlike normal animals like bears or hawks due to their mythical status information was really scarce, some of it little more than rumors or fairytales. 

Having a real, actual live phoenix on board had been a bit of a dream come true for Marco, because he could finally get some real answers. Unfortunately it also meant the blow of it leaving was pretty terrible. Still, there was nothing they could do now. It would come back or it wouldn’t. At least now they knew they existed and could keep an eye out.

Oyaji could probably be convinced to adventure around looking for them now that they knew for sure. Thatch was sure the entire crew would be all for that kind of adventure, that Marco would get more of the information he was looking for would just be an added bonus to most, and those who normally might’ve protested at the wild goose chase wouldn’t because it was for Marco’s sake.

“Come on, you may heal from pretty much everything but you do still need to sleep,” Thatch tried again. Marco just glanced at him and grunted quietly in affirmation that he’d heard before turning his eyes back on the sky. Thatch really hoped the bird would come back for Marco’s sake. He had the feeling his friend would be really devastated if it didn’t.

Marco wasn’t the kind of person to get upset or angry easily, but seeing and meeting a phoenix, for the first time ever, it had meant a lot to him. Being one of his close friends Thatch often thought that maybe the idea of being a mythical zoan, one of a kind, had made Marco a little lonely.

He knew it wasn’t easy to be the right hand of Whitebeard and that it often times made Marco more of an authority figure than a friend to a lot of the crew. He had kind of secretly hoped that the phoenix would stay if only to alleviate some of his friend’s loneliness. He and the other Division Commanders did their best, trying to treat him like the brother he was, but there was really no doubt Marco was the oldest brother even in that relationship, which still put him in a position above them.

On top of that Thatch knew Marco’s secret, the one he kept carefully hidden, the handwriting set squarely between his hips. It was a soul mark, that part wasn’t surprising, everyone in their world was born with one of them. Thatch himself had one printed neatly across his shoulder blades in his lover Izo’s calligraphy. 

It was the words themselves that were surprising. He’d only seen it once, back when he’d first joined the crew, gotten lost and accidentally walked in on his brother as he was getting into the shower, but the words had been distinctive enough to etch themselves on his memory.

He was fairly sure that Marco, Oyaji and he himself were the only ones to know the words Marco had been marked with. The First Division Commander was pretty good about keeping them to himself, and he didn’t talk about them often. Probably in an attempt to protect himself from those terrible people in the world who liked to pretend to be soulmates with the wrong person. However Thatch got the feeling he might’ve given up on finding his soulmate, the same way he’d given up on ever meeting another phoenix, a long time ago.

Which was extremely unfortunate in Thatch’s eyes, because if ever there was a person on their crew in need of a soulmate, an equal, it was Marco. He would just have to cross his fingers and hope for the best.

A flash of color in the corner of his eye caught his attention, distracting him from his thoughts and he turned and began to grin, as a familiar fireball appeared in the sky. However it seemed bigger than usual, and was getting closer and closer to the ship. As it approached Thatch began to hear shouting, or more like loud cursing, cursing in a high feminine voice that made his eyes go wide, as he took a second glance at the fireball.

What the hell!? Was that a person?!

…~oO*Oo~…

Violetta cursed violently as she felt herself freefalling through the air. When she had told Fawkes she’d do anything to be free this certainly hadn’t been on the agenda. Unfortunately her broom, which she always carried with her in the form of a tiny charm on a necklace around her neck, wasn’t easy to take off, and she doubted she’d be able to get it before she hit the ground.

She had to wonder what the hell the phoenix had been thinking as he literally dropped her out of the sky. She knew the fall wouldn’t kill her, Fawkes would never endanger her like that, and she could see him above her, flapping his wings to keep himself aloft as he watched her fall, a strangely smug look on his avian features.

A small huff of air was forced out of her lungs on impact, and she realized with surprise that someone had caught her. It was enough of a shock that she immediately stopped cursing out the phoenix overhead to get her bearings.

She was being held bridal style, cradled against someone’s chest, someone’s very male, very muscular, very bare chest, and that somehow she’d latched her arms around his neck. She took a minute to be grateful she didn’t wear glasses anymore, having corrected her eyesight during the war because glasses were a liability, as she slowly trailed her eyes up that chest to the worried face peering down at her.

Upon seeing it, she had to admit, it was a very attractive face. Not classically handsome, like a lot of the more attractive purebloods in her world, but more rugged, and just a little bit scruffy with the five o’clock shadow he had going on his cheeks and chin. His eyes were heavy lidded and might’ve reminded her of Bellatrix if not for the intense teal blue color and the steady, but concerned look on his face.

“Are you alright miss?” he asked carefully, his voice was a light baritone, with a rasp to it that she found extremely appealing, and she fought to keep the blush off her face, as the awareness of the position they were in sunk in.

“I will be once I get my hands on that phoenix and figure out why the hell he decided to drop me,” she told him, proud of the way she’d managed to keep her voice relatively glib, despite being extremely embarrassed at the position she now found herself in.

A sharp intake of breath had her glancing around, apparently Fawkes’ little stunt had, had an audience. Several men surrounded the two of them, and all of them seemed to be armed with some kind of weapon, though they looked to mostly be carrying swords and old fashioned pistols, which was exceedingly strange because she was pretty sure not even the purebloods, who were at least a hundred years behind muggle culture, still fought with swords despite it being practiced by their ancestors.

Still despite their old fashioned looks, the presence of so many weapons had her tensing, her fingers drifting towards the invisible holster she kept attached to her arm that housed her trusty holly and phoenix feather wand. She really wasn’t in the best of positions here, and the only reason she wasn’t already attacking is because Fawkes would never have dropped her into a situation like this unprepared if she was going to be in danger.

Out of habit her eyes scanned her surroundings. She appeared to be on some kind of wooden ship. The kind that reminded her of the one Durmstrang had brought for the Triwizard Tournament, made of wood with enormous white sails that billowed in the wind. She could smell saltwater in the air, which led her to believe she was on the ocean somewhere.

Glancing around her eyes found the man who had made a noise before, and she had to double take. She had seen some very strange things since becoming part of the magical world, but even purebloods knew that if your hair was red so was your beard. This man had apparently decided he wanted to do something different because his beard was jet black, and his red hair was styled in the most gravity-defying pompadour she’d ever laid eyes on, and considering she’d seen Lavender Browns hairstyle creations during her Hogwarts years that was saying something.

He was wearing a pristine white chef’s coat, and white pants with a yellow kerchief around his neck, and a sword strapped to his hip, which he had a hand on looking about as uncertain as she felt about whether he should attempt to draw it or not. He was also staring at her, which she supposed wasn’t all that surprising considering a phoenix had dropped her from the sky.

Deciding to trust in Fawkes that there was no danger she allowed her body to relax and spoke again into the tense silence, “I apologize for intruding, and I hate to be a bother, but could you please tell me where I am. Fawkes didn’t tell me where we were going before he dropped me here a la phoenix express.”

“Fawkes?” the redhead asked interestedly relaxing and letting go of the handle of his sword.

“The phoenix,” she told him jerking her chin upward to the bird who was circling above them trilling in amusement, “and my so-called friend, though I’m reevaluating that thought considering how I landed here.”

“Ah, well I’m Thatch,” the redhead told her carefully, “You’re currently on the Moby Dick in the New World, on the Grand Line, and the one holding on to you is Marco.”

“I’m Violetta,” she returned with what she hoped was a friendly tone, before turning to the man holding her aloft, “Thank you very much for catching me, but I’m alright, so if you could just let me down…?”

His heavy lidded eyes were actually wide with surprise, much more so than when she’d fallen out of the sky, which he’d taken pretty much in stride and she wondered what she could have said to shock him so much. She wriggled a bit in his hold indicating once more her desire to have him set her down, but his arms just tightened in response holding her closer.

She tried really hard not to think about all those nice muscles as they pressed firmly into her side, but gave it up as a lost cause. The men in the wizarding world weren’t nearly as fit. Wizarding kind in general tended to be a lazy lot, with absolutely no interest in exercise. The closest they came was quidditch and maybe dueling, though that was limited to a small portion of society. It was a sad fact of life that many of Voldemort’s death eaters had only been as terrifying as they were because they were physically fit enough to keep fighting over long periods of time, outlasting their opponents.

Still, as nice as those muscles were she really would like to be back on her feet. She felt more than a bit vulnerable in this position, and it was awkward to be clasped so tightly to a complete stranger. Unfortunately he didn’t seem all too keen on letting her go.

“Um…?” she prompted wriggling again in a futile attempt to make him let go. He was apparently very strong, which shouldn’t be surprising considering the broad shoulders, and firm arms she felt cradled under her body. Giving up she cast a helpless look at the only one who’d spoken to her.

“Just, uh, maybe give him a minute to process,” Thatch assured her, looking a bit concerned himself, though it was very clear that concern was all for the man holding her, “Marco’s had a lot of pretty women throwing themselves at him over the years, but I think one falling out of the sky was a bit much for him.”

Violetta raised a skeptical brow, at this blatant lie considering moments before he’d been, alert enough to catch her and ask if she was alright.

Thatch chuckled nervously, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head under her disbelieving look, apparently the redhead babbled a bit when he got nervous because what spilled out of his mouth came in such a rushed torrent it took her a minute to decipher it.

“Actually your arrival was pretty cool though it was a wasted opportunity, I mean he could’ve said something great like “did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” or something equally epic, but no instead he just asked if you were okay, which was a waste of words if you ask me, speaking of which, they wouldn’t have happened to have been at all familiar would they…?”

“Words?” she repeated slowly, and then her whole body stiffened, and she unconsciously let go of Marco’s neck in shock as her mind repeated the first words he’d said to her, ‘Are you alright miss?’

Her letting go seemingly tipped his balance. She hadn’t realized he was perched on the railing of the deck, or she would’ve been a little more careful. Luckily his reflexes were pretty damn impressive, because he managed to slide both of them on to the deck and land them on their feet without tipping them backwards off the railing into the water below.

However despite the tricky maneuver he still managed to keep his arms locked around her, though they were now around her waist. She had once more grabbed hold of him in the scramble for balance, and her hands were locked tightly on to the purple shirt he was wearing. Honestly it was probably a good thing he had ahold of her considering she felt as if she could be knocked over by a feather.

According to Sirius she had been born with her words, trailing down her spine in a tidy, if a bit cramped scrawl. It wasn’t unusual, it just meant that her soulmate was apparently older than her, though how much older no one was able to tell, it could’ve been anywhere from a minute to a hundred years.

Growing up with the Dursleys she’d dreamed of maybe finding her soulmate just as often as she’d dreamed of having a long lost family member come take her away, because her soulmate could take her away from her Aunt, Uncle and cousin just as surely as a relative could. 

Locked in her lonely cupboard she’d dreamed she was Cinderella and that someday a prince would come and rescue her, sweeping her away from her terrible family. Maybe he would see her at school, or in the garden, or at the park and take in her rags and the bruises Dudley often left on her skin and be concerned. Or maybe he would come and save her during Vi hunting, as she desperately sought to get away from the gang, he’d sweep in, defeat them all and turn and ask. Or maybe he’d come across her as she hid in the library trying to keep away from home as best she could.

And admittedly she had heard them, her words, more than a few times, from concerned adults, teachers and the librarian, but none of them were the one. Still each time she heard them her hopes would rise, only to be squashed back down again, yet she hadn’t been about to give up.

Getting her letter to Hogwarts had changed things. She was sure she was going to meet her soulmate there, but then her so-called adventures had started and she was more focused on staying alive than on finding her soulmate. It didn’t help that she was suddenly very famous, all of a sudden people were coming out of the woodwork trying to find out her words and if they were her soulmate. She’d nearly been overwhelmed by the crush of people in Diagon Alley more than once all hoping to say her words.

Luckily it seemed that those who would later manipulate her hadn’t actually wanted her to find her soulmate otherwise they probably would have sent her someone and had them say her words and give her a false positive. Instead they’d cautioned her not to believe right away, to always check and double check, it should be your handwriting, they’d remind her, and it has to be the first thing they ever say to you. As if she didn’t already know. Still she did keep a wary eye out, and was glad that she had, she couldn’t imagine the disaster a false positive would’ve been, she had been confused enough throughout her time at Hogwarts without someone pretending to be her soulmate.

Unfortunately all her encounters with Voldemort quickly led her to realize that she couldn’t spend her time waiting around for someone else to save her. Doing so would only get her killed. She had to be strong enough to rescue herself and others if it came down to it. Plus if Voldemort ever discovered who her soulmate was, he’d hunt them down too, and more than likely try to use them as leverage against her, which meant she had to be strong enough to protect them too.

To that end she’d focused the bulk of her attention on the practical classes, Charms, Transfiguration, and especially DADA, the classes that would give her a tangible advantage against Voldemort. It drove Hermione completely up the wall that she didn’t care a whit for History of Magic, Astronomy or Potions, but frankly she hadn’t cared. 

While you could learn fighting tactics from History Binns certainly wasn’t teaching them anything, knowing about the stars and planetary alignments would do absolutely nothing for you during a fight, and you couldn’t exactly brew potions mid-duel. Sure they could be useful if you prepared them ahead of time, and sure they could heal injuries afterwards and do all kinds of interesting things, but experience had taught her that Voldemort always attacked her when she was at her least prepared, and you could always make healing potions later. Plus most emergency first aid was done with spells, which she had taken the time to learn via Madam Pomfrey, not that Hermione had cared.

However the war had proven to her that the path she’d chosen was the right one. She was the best dueler on the side of the Light, better even than Kingsley who had been one of the top aurors at the Ministry before it had fallen. This was likely because of her access to the Black Library, her quick and varied spell work, and her ability to keep going for long periods of time thanks to an exacting fitness regimen.

She liked to think she’d become a self-rescuing princess, and even during the war she’d still dreamed of finding her soulmate, though this time her daydreams were of the two of them fighting side-by-side or even of her rescuing them instead. She had even heard her words a couple of times, mostly from their allies who’d come to aid in the fight from France or Germany or Spain, people who didn’t recognize her on sight, but none of them were a match, though a couple had tried to convince her they were once they figured out who she was, in the end none of them had the right corresponding words or handwriting.

After the war ended and the rebuilding began, those dreams had fallen a bit to the wayside, especially when she started teaching at Hogwarts because she knew she’d never meet her soulmate there. He was older than her after all and the only older males she interacted with while she was teaching were her fellow professors.

She’d just been thinking that maybe she needed some kind of sabbatical, to get her out and meeting people again, when the notice for her hearing had come with the morning owl post. After, well, she’d pretty much resigned herself to never meeting them, confined as she was to the grounds of the castle. 

Thus when he’d said them to her they hadn’t really registered, especially since she’d been distracted by his muscles and his eyes, and the fact that Fawkes had dropped her out of the sky.

“You said? I mean those were… Did I say?” she managed to squeak staring up at him unable to help the hope in her voice.

…~oO*Oo~…

Marco stared down at the small woman in his arms, hypnotized by the color of her glowing emerald gaze, as she stared up at him with hopeful eyes. He was so caught up in them that it took him a minute to process the question. He went to speak, but the words didn’t want to come and he had to clear his throat like an idiot to get them past his suddenly dry mouth.

“Yeah, yes, those were, those were mine,” he told her. He could still feel his heart beating thunderously against his ribs, as if reminding him of its presence, it was a grounding feeling, one that he had used to focus on to keep from floating away, awash in a sea of thought and emotion. It had been that way since she had first spoken his words to him. The words he’d almost given up ever hearing.

Honestly he was still feeling a bit dazed with disbelief, because she was here, here in his arms, a solid presence, a tangible weight, and so very real. Before that phoenix had appeared a week ago he had given up on ever meeting his soulmate, it had been over forty years with no sign of her or a phoenix that might lead him to her. 

Then the fiery bird had appeared literally on top of them and when he’d confirmed that the avian was in fact a phoenix he’d felt the first stirring of hope in over a decade. Still he’d gone so long without his soulmate that he desperately tried to reign in the feeling, afraid of the devastation that would follow if he allowed himself to hope and was disappointed. The disappearance of the red and gold avian had proved to him that his attempt had been in vain. 

He’d been just as devastated as he’d suspected he would be. He tried to tell himself that it didn’t matter, that he had Oyaji, and his brothers and that was enough, and in a sense it was. He wouldn’t die just because he wouldn’t meet them, he could still continue on just as he had been doing for the good majority of his life now. Soul mates weren’t the be all end all, but it would’ve been nice.

Nice to have someone to talk to, someone to bounce ideas off of, someone to hold, to touch, to kiss, to love. Someone who was his and his alone. Someone who would see him as an equal, as a partner. Someone to share his bed, his life, his forever after with.

That’s what a soulmate was supposed to be. Oh he knew it wasn’t all sunshine and daisies, that even soulmates fought and hurt one another sometimes, Thatch and Izo were a prime example of that, but for the most part things still tended to work out. A soulmate was supposed to be the one person you could always rely on, who would always be there and he wanted that, he wanted it so badly it ached sometimes, especially when he saw his crew mates, his brothers and his Oyaji all aging around him, knowing that someday unless he was killed (which was nearly impossible with his Devil Fruit) he was going to be left behind by all of them.

Oh he was still aging, of that he was sure, but it was an extremely slow process. The fact of the matter was he was over sixty and could still pass as twenty-five. A part of him had hoped, that somehow, someway his soulmate would also be aging slower than normal, so he could at least have one person who wouldn’t be taken from him. The fact that his soulmate apparently knew a phoenix had bolstered his hopes over the years, that is until they’d failed to appear.

His crew seemed to understand, and he knew Thatch at least suspected his feelings on the matter. He had been surprised when they’d offered to stick around to see if the phoenix returned, despite knowing they’d have to survive for a while on meager rations if they lingered. He’d been really grateful and filled with affection for his family as not a single person complained about waiting around a bit.

Which was why he had been sure that even if the phoenix didn’t appear again he’d still be okay. He had the most amazing family ever, and he really didn’t need more, but he was a pirate and selfish by nature, so despite his loving family it didn’t stop him from wanting, and hoping for more.

“Would you mind showing me?” she asked quietly a nervous hand pushing her wild black hair out of her face, and redirecting his attentions away from his thoughts, “The mark that is?”

“I, yeah of course,” he told her feeling a bit like an idiot, and wishing he could be a little more eloquent. 

Reluctantly he released his grip on her, his hands falling to his sash and fumbling with the knot, his hands shaking slightly from the adrenalin. Sliding it away from his hips then hooking his fingers in the band of his low riding pants, pulling it down a bit to reveal the words set low between the V of his hipbones. The handwriting was an untidy, hurried scrawl that read clearly, ‘I will be once I get my hands on that phoenix and figure out why the hell he decided to drop me’.

He sucked in a sharp breath of surprise as her dainty fingers reached out to dance lightly over the words, which were slightly raised on his skin, the way all soul marks were, a bit like a scar, tracing them lightly with a calloused finger tip. Heat burned through him at her touch and he tried not to think about where else he’d like to see that small hand choosing instead to focus on the awe on her face.

She glanced up at him and smiled in a way that stole the air from his lungs, it was a smile filled with relief, and hope and joy and it was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen in his long life. She was probably the most beautiful thing if he was being honest.

He was probably a bit biased in that respect, she was his soulmate after all, but even knowing that he knew others would think she was beautiful too. Her eyes were the most luminescent beautiful shade of green he’d ever come across, and considering all his years on the Grand Line that was saying something.

It took a good long while to get past the eyes, to even notice the second most prominent feature of her face, which was the most bizarre scar he’d ever seen. The closest he’d seen to it was when one of his idiot brothers had decided to try climbing the mast during a storm and been struck by lightning. The main branch started on her forehead and curled over both eyebrows and down one cheek to her neck with little textured branches that radiated from that main branch across her face, giving the skin there a very interesting texture. Under the scar her features were petite and sweetly feminine, small nose, pink pouty lips and cheekbones that were just a tad too sharp.

Her hair was pinned back, or at least it had been, but the fall she’d taken and its own wild nature had it springing free of its confinement in a wild riot of curls and waves that tumbled down her back, her skin was pale, perhaps a little too pale, but the rosy tint to her cheeks made up for it.

Her figure was more lithe than most of the women he’d seen over the years, with gentle curves, her figure more elfin than buxom. It wasn’t his usual type but it was extremely appealing nonetheless.

“Would you like to see mine?” She questioned softly into the silence between them, finished tracing his mark, perhaps feeling as he did that this was an extremely intimate moment between the two of them, one that he’d remember forever. He nodded, unwilling to break the quiet moment, and watched mesmerized as she began to pull her clothing off.

First came the strange dark green, nearly black over robe, made of some kind of silk, if the way it shone slightly was any indication, next was a strange looking vest made of some kind of reptile skin, and finally the soft undershirt she was wearing underneath, leaving her in only a black lace bra, he only caught a glimpse of it though as she crossed her arms across her chest and turned her back to him, sweeping her dark hair over one shoulder so he could get a good look at her back.

His words were written vertically, marching down her spine in the same precise writing he used in all the ships reports, and despite the mediocrity of them the handwriting was unmistakable. He reached out and ran his finger gently down her spine, feeling the texture of his words on her beneath his finger, and smirking slightly as he saw the goosebumps he raised on her arms, and felt the slight shiver of her skin.

He was a bit awed by the words, not that he’d really needed the confirmation, the words said to him were pretty distinct after all, and he really doubted anyone else would ever say them to him again. Still seeing the black marks against her pale skin was like nothing else he’d ever experienced.

He knew he was a selfish man by nature, but the strength of the possessive feeling as he stared at the words inked on her took him by surprise. She was his, his and only his.

Giving into the feeling he reached out and pulled her backwards into his arms, burying his face into the bare skin of her neck and just breathing her in. She squeaked in surprise, but didn’t pull away, instead wrapping her arms over his, reinforcing his hold on her. He hummed softly in contentment, memorizing her scent, feeling her soft skin beneath his fingers. He was just beginning to contemplate turning her in his arms to see if she’d let him taste her too, when a voice broke in.

“Umm I hate to interrupt your moment and everything, but I’d really like to turn around now, and I don’t want to see anything that will have you taking my head off later,” Thatch informed him, and Marco jerked in surprise.

He’d completely forgotten about Thatch and his other brothers, who’d been sharing the deck with him when his soulmate had fallen from the sky. Glancing around he noted that the area had apparently been vacated while he was preoccupied.

“Where is everyone ~yoi?” he asked confused. He was more than a little surprised his brothers hadn’t all stayed to gawk at them, the downfall of being brothers with nosy pirates.

“I made them leave, about the same time she asked to see your soulmark,” Thatch admitted refusing to turn from where he had his back to them, “Didn’t want them intruding on something private.”

“Thank you,” she voiced before he could, releasing her grip on him, and peeling his arms away from her, he let her, reluctantly, “Give me a moment, I’ll let you know when we’re decent again.”

Bereft of her presence in his arms, and wanting to give her some privacy to redress, Marco turned his attention to re-knotting the sash at his waist. He only looked up again when she told Thatch he could turn around.

Glancing around he saw she was standing fairly close to him, and apparently she’d decided against putting the strange over robe back on, instead bundling it into her arms. A soft warbling song filled the air, and he was surprised to see the red and gold bird who’d started everything gliding down, coming to rest on one of his soulmate’s thin shoulders.

“Fawkes!” she exclaimed in surprise, reaching out and running a gentle hand through his feathers, “Fawkes did you know?”

The other bird made a cooing, trilling sound, that even Thatch could probably tell was extremely smug, and his soulmate laughed, the sound tinged with surprise and slight hysteria that had him turning towards her in concern.

“Seriously? You found my soulmate for me? Is that where you were? All that time? Looking for him?” she asked and the crimson and gold bird chirped and warbled, looking very pleased with itself.

He watched as she nuzzled her face against the birds’ talking so quietly even he, with his enhanced Zoan hearing couldn’t make it out. The phoenix, evidently called Fawkes, gently ran his beak through her hair, an extremely affectionate gesture, before pausing and meeting Marco’s eyes. The message in those extremely intelligent eyes was clear, if he messed up Fawkes didn’t care that he was a fellow phoenix or virtually indestructible, he would pay the price.

He nodded to show he got the message, and reached out carefully, to take her hand in his. She glanced up at him, eyes wide with surprise, but didn’t hesitate to interlock her fingers with his.

“So I may have managed to stop the rampaging hoard of people who wanted to meet and interrogate the strange woman the phoenix dropped out of the sky,” Thatch told him watching the two of them with interested eyes, “But it required telling Oyaji what had happened. He’s waiting in the meeting room with the other Division Commanders for the two of you.”

Marco nodded, glad that Thatch had already let Oyaji know, and that they were taking steps to ensure his new soulmate wouldn’t be overwhelmed by too many of his brothers all at once.

“Are you up to meeting Oyaji and the others?” he asked her, not wanting her to feel like she was being forced into anything, or that decisions were being made without her knowledge or consent, “If not they can probably wait a bit, but not for too long.”

“I suppose that should be fine,” she mused a slight frown on her face, “But who exactly is this Oyaji?”

Marco traded surprised glances with Thatch, pretty much everyone knew that Whitebeard’s crew all called their captain Oyaji. Unless she thought she was somewhere else? Technically speaking the flag wasn’t actually visible from the angle of the deck they were at.

“Oyaji is our captain, Captain Edward Newgate, but everyone calls him Whitebeard,” Marco explained carefully, wondering if they were already hitting the first bump in their relationship.

“Whitebeard?” she repeated still frowning, and he took a moment to note that her voice had a strange lilting accent the like of which he’d never heard before, though he did find it very attractive, “What like that pirate, er what was his name? Blackbeard?”

He cast a helpless look at Thatch who held up his hands and shrugged a baffled look on his face. It wasn’t very often they ran into someone who hadn’t heard of their Oyaji these days he could count the number of times that’d happened in the last decade on one hand and still have fingers left over.

“Maybe?” he answered finally, “I’ve never seen or met anyone calling themselves Blackbeard, but Oyaji is a pirate, we all are. We’re actually called the Whitebeard pirates.”

“You’re a pirate?” she asked clearly caught off guard, “Really?”

“I am,” he told her firmly, bracing himself for some kind of storm, it looked like maybe his soulmate was a civilian and they didn’t tend to take well to pirates, especially if they were from outside the Grand Line, which was looking more and more likely in her case.

Still he wasn’t ashamed of what he was, and he knew their crew wasn’t like typical pirates, he just had to keep her calm enough to explain that in such a way that she’d hopefully accept it.

“I see,” she replied her eyes narrowing as she studied his face carefully, “And do you or your crew regularly rape, plunder, kidnap, terrorize, torture or kill innocent people? The ones who’ve done nothing against you and yours and who don’t attack first?”

“What?” Marco questioned caught off guard by the extremely blunt question, “No! Of course not!”

She took a moment longer, apparently trying to decide if she believed him or not before nodded, “Well alright then.”

“Alright then?” Thatch repeated, sounding as completely baffled as Marco felt, “You mean that’s it? No freaking out, no more questions, no screaming, nothing?”

“I could maybe manage a small scream if you like?” she offered apparently amused by Thatch’s confusion, “Though I’d prefer not to. And I do have more questions, a lot more questions, who doesn’t when they first meet their soulmate? But they can wait, there’s nothing I’m too concerned about.”

“You’re not afraid then or disgusted?” Marco asked curiously, though he felt he already knew the answer.

“Should I be?” she countered meeting his eyes steadily. 

“I will never purposely hurt you physically or emotionally, and I will protect you to the best of my abilities. I’m not ashamed of what I am or the things I’ve done, but I have killed people, done disgusting things that no ordinary man would dream of doing to protect my crew, my family and I don’t regret it,” he told her finally, after careful consideration.

“Then I guess that makes two of us,” she told him with a wry, sad smile, “Though there are some things I regret, a lot of things actually, but that’s really not something we should probably get into right now.”

“You’ve killed people?” Thatch asked incredulously, and Marco shot him a look of annoyance, though he could see why he was surprised. She was a tiny thing, only coming up to just under his chin, and while her lithe form was decently muscled it was nothing too impressive. Plus she didn’t give off the dangerous air most experienced pirates did, and her haki presence was on the lower end of the scale. Still Thatch should know better than to judge, after all in this part of the Grand Line it wouldn’t be unheard of for her to be a Devil Fruit user, and really if he thought about it, you didn’t really need to be physically strong to kill someone.

“Yes,” she said flatly, clearly unimpressed by the question, “I have. It’s not something I’m necessarily proud of, but it is something I’ve done.”

Thatch subsided apparently cowed, and feeling more than a bit guilty if Marco was reading the looks he was shooting the two of them correctly.

“Thatch!” A new voice called out from one of the lower decks, “Have you gotten them yet? Oyaji and the others are waiting!”

“We’re coming!” Thatch called down to his soulmate Izo, then turned to Marco and his soulmate, “We are, aren’t we?”

Marco rolled his eyes at him, and turned to Violetta, who nodded, tightening her grip on his hand and gesturing for him to lead the way. Unfortunately climbing down the lower decks meant he had to release his hold on her temporarily. He jumped down and landed lightly on his feet, turning to offer to catch his soulmate only to see her gliding down with the help of the phoenix who set her gently down on the deck before settling back in on her shoulder.

“That was impressive,” Izo noted a single eyebrow raised in surprise as he took in Marco’s soulmate and the familiar phoenix settled on her shoulder.

“Isn’t he just?” Violetta asked clear fondness in her voice as she gently stroked Fawkes’ head, “Fawkes here can lift several times his own body weight.”

“I’m Izo,” the sixteenth division commander offered holding his hand to shake, and Marco could see his most feminine brother watching his soulmate carefully.

“Violetta,” she offered accepting the hand with ease, “Call me Vi though, Violetta is a bit presumptuous for my tastes. Forgive me for asking Izo, but would you prefer to be addressed as he or she? It’s a bit rude I know but I’d rather ask than accidently choose the wrong one.”

“He,” Izo answered with a nod of approval at Marco, who knew if she had assumed and gotten it wrong Izo would have taken a long time to forgive her, he still hadn’t quite forgiven Thatch and he was his soulmate, “I just cross dress I have no actual desire to be female, I simply enjoy women’s clothing.”

“Good to know,” Violetta returned seriously, “Would you perhaps be willing to come out shopping with me sometime then? I have to admit I’m rather terrible at choosing my own clothes.”

“Of course!” Izo assured her immediately, completely won over at the mention of one of his favorite activities, “I’d love to!”

“It will have to wait until we land,” Marco intervened hoping against hope his soulmate knew just what exactly she was getting herself into, “For now though you said Oyaji and the others were waiting?”

Izo nodded seriously, immediately back in business mode, “They are, right this way.”

…~oO*Oo~…

Whitebeard watched his sons as they held quiet conversations amongst themselves, as the information about Marco finally finding his soulmate spread. He could see most of them were happy for their brother, eager to meet whoever it was fate had decided was Marco’s better half, but also a little concerned. After all more than one person had left the crew after finding their soulmate, and losing Marco would be devastating.

He wasn’t actually worried at all. He knew Marco wouldn’t leave the crew without an extremely serious reason, not that finding his soulmate wasn’t serious, but Newgate rather thought that if this woman really was Marco’s soulmate, she would recognize, the way that he had, that the sea called to Marco, as strong as any siren. As a soulmate he was pretty sure she would realize that taking him away from the sea, and the crew he called family would make him unhappy.

No, it was far more likely that Marco would be trying to convince her to stay here, on the Moby with him. It was an option that all of the soulmates of his sons were offered, though very few ever took them up on the offer. Most chose to live on a specific, and extremely protected island at the heart of his territory instead, where their safety was pretty much a guarantee.

Only a handful so far had chosen to stay aboard the Moby, and they were Izo, who he wasn’t sure counted as Izo had been a fighter and a pirate long before meeting Thatch, Jozu’s soulmate, Ria and Vista’s soulmate Hana, both of whom were among the nurses and doctors aboard the ship.

Still he hoped for Marco’s sake that the woman would choose to stay. Of the crew he had left, the ones who hadn’t retired to that safe island, Marco was the longest standing member, and the one he was arguably closest to. 

Thus he knew that Marco had given up hope of even finding his soulmate before, but whilst Marco had given up on himself, Newgate had not. He had hoped for his oldest son’s sake that he would find them and that they would in turn ease his loneliness and gift him with the support he craved. 

It wasn’t that Marco didn’t have support, people to talk to or turn to with his problems, fears and doubts, in fact he couldn’t think of a single person who wouldn’t be honored to have Marco confide in them. The problem was Marco didn’t feel that he could. He didn’t want his brothers to see him as anything other than strong and unshakable, believing perhaps rightly, perhaps not, that it would lessen their faith in him both as Commander and as Newgate’s right hand. He was the “oldest” brother after all and many of his other sons viewed him the same way they viewed Newgate himself, as somehow invincible.

However he knew that was far from the truth. Marco had his moments just like everyone else, he just hid them better. The only one able to call him out on it seemed to be Newgate himself, though Thatch did sometimes manage to weasel his way in as well.

Unfortunately while Thatch did his best, his insights came only rarely thanks to Marco being nearly constantly on guard, and while Newgate knew his First Division Commander inside and out, and did his best to aid him where he could, he also had over a thousand other sons to look after, which meant Marco didn’t get the attention he needed or deserved. In fact he probably got less than his fair share, considering how self-contained and self-sufficient he was.

Which was why he was hoping she could be convinced to stay, to offer up the support Marco needed, and in return Newgate and his sons would give her anything she needed. It was the least they could do for the soulmate of his First Division Commander, the least he could do for any of his sons’ soulmates really.

The room suddenly went quiet and he straightened himself up in his chair as the door opened, Izo and Thatch slipped in first, taking up their respective chairs around the large table Newgate liked to use for these kinds of meetings, leaving only Marco’s chair, the one to his immediate right, open.

His first impression as she edged in the door behind Thatch, was that she was a tiny little thing. Sure a lot of his children were tiny compared to him, even Marco himself, but she would barely come up over his knee if he was standing, and she was slender besides.

He watched as her eyes darted around the room, taking in the faces of each of his commanders, her eyebrows climbing higher with each new face before settling on him. Those bright green eyes of hers were nearly unnerving in their intensity, and the scar on her face was a testament to the fact that this was a fighter. 

His instincts, which had never failed him before, told him that if this soulmate chose to stay with them, she would insist on fighting on the front lines, there would be no nursing for her. It was in the way she walked, the way she moved, and the way she catalogued each Division Commander, taking in their weaponry before settling on the biggest threat, both literally and figuratively, in the room, him.

Unbidden his lips twitched up in an amused smile, Marco had definitely landed himself an interesting one. He watched her as she studied him, wondering what she was thinking and waiting for her to make the first move in the hushed silence of the room.

“Are you Whitebeard then?” she asked finally, her lilting voice nearly deafening in the silence of the room.

“My name is Edward Newgate, but most on these seas know me as Whitebeard yes, and you are?” he prompted interested.

“I’m called Violetta, Violetta Janine Potter,” she informed him and it took a moment for him to recognize the resigned anticipatory look on her face, it was a feeling he’d often felt himself when expecting to be recognized, but not particularly caring to.

“I’ve never heard of you,” he told her bluntly, wondering if it was ego or something else that put that look on her face.

“Funny, up until fifteen minutes ago I’d never heard of you either,” she countered just as blunt as he was, apparently uncaring about the sucked in breaths of astonishment from around the table. Whitebeard could feel his lips twitching in unbidden amusement, if nothing else, she was brave, he had to give her that.

“Which begs the question, just where the hell am I?” she asked before he had a chance to respond.

“You’re in the New World girlie,” Jozu rumbled from his left, the first to recover from his surprise enough to answer, “On the Grand Line.”

“I’m in the who what where now?” she queried plainly confused, and garnering surprised looks from around the table.

“Uh the New World,” Thatch tried again eyeing her with interest, “It’s what veterans of the Grand Line call its’ second half.”

“I’m sorry,” Violetta apologized with a frown, “It seems I’m a bit behind in my geography, where exactly is the Grand Line?”

Newgate frowned himself. The girl hadn’t even heard of the Grand Line? Just where exactly was she from then? Because even those living in the Blues were well aware of the Grand Line. His sons were just as concerned giving her strange looks and muttering amongst themselves.

“Does someone have a world map,?” she asked concerned, a calculating look in her eyes as she took another glance around the room her eyes lingering on Jozu, Curiel, Atmos, Kingdew, Blenheim, Fossa, and himself, all of whom were much larger than her. He wondered if she was sizing them up as threats or thinking something else entirely.

“I’ve got one,” Namur informed her gruffly, standing from his seat and fishing around in his pockets, before sliding it across the table at her. She caught it easily, but her eyes remained glued on his only fishman commander, and he could feel hackles rising around the room. 

“What?!” Namur demanded annoyed and defensive, ready to be insulted yet again. Everyone in his crew were more than a little protective of their fishman brothers, knowing the prejudice they faced outside the ship. No one would take it well if she was rude to him Marco’s soulmate or no, and while it could cause all kinds of problems Whitebeard wasn’t too worried. After all she didn’t seem hostile just curious.

His suspicions were proven correct as she visibly shook herself, an ashamed look crossing her face for a brief moment before determination and apology took its place.

“I’m sorry, you’d think that with this on my face I would know better than to stare so rudely at people,” she told him tracing her scar with a finger and grimacing, “I was just caught off guard, I’ve never met anyone who looked like you before, my apologies for my rudeness.”

Whitebeard could see his sons relaxing including Namur at her sincere apology, and felt approval, both for their actions and for hers.

“Never seen a fishman huh?” Namur asked genuinely interested.

“No, I don’t think so, not unless fishman is synonymous for merfolk?” she asked and Namur shook his head in response.

“I thought so, besides the merfolk I met had a different language above water, and couldn’t survive on land,” she told him absently, completely missing the startled looks as she bent over the map.

More than ever Whitebeard was wondering where the hell she’d come from. A different language? Only the most isolated of islands spoke a language other than common, and even there they tended to speak both. Nowhere in the world that he knew of wouldn’t be able to understand what he said, and the ‘above water’ caveat was also something that sparked several questions. Plus all those he would classify as merfolk could definitely survive on land. Sure they couldn’t move around very well, but surviving wasn’t an issue.

He was kind of hoping she would be willing to point out wherever it was she came from on the map. It sounded like an interesting place, one that might be worth exploring. He’d been sailing these seas for a long time, and he was getting older, but he wasn’t the kind to pass up an adventure if it presented itself.

Interestingly the moment she actually got the map unfolded she seemed to freeze, her eyes going wide with shock, and the blood draining from her face. Whitebeard frowned in concern, watching as Marco took several steps forward, from where he’d been leaning on the door jam, his hand lightly brushing her shoulder in concern.

“Is everything alright ~yoi?” he asked softly, his voice carrying in the silence of the room.

Seeing him seemed to settle her slightly and she nodded slowly, “I think so, maybe, it’s just I don’t recognize this at all.”

Marco frowned looking over her shoulder to the map, his eyes skimming over it before turning back to hers, “This is accurate, actually it’s even more accurate than most maps available in the world right now.”

She searched his face for a moment, before turning to the bird who’d ridden into the room on her shoulder, “Fawkes, just what did you do?”

The bird hopped off her shoulder and on to the table his dark eyes on the map, moving carefully around it and inspecting it from all angles before turning back to her a making a strange trilling noise. From the look on his face Marco didn’t understand, but his soulmate certainly seemed to.

“I know I said anything Fawkes, but don’t you think this is a bit much?” she asked her voice tinged with just a hint of hysteria.

The phoenix retorted with a strange sound that reminded him of scolding, and that was apparently what it was because her shoulders dropped in response.

“You’re right of course you are,” she told him with a sigh, “But you realize that trying to explain this to them is going to make me sound completely barmy, off my rocker, loonier than a loon right?

Her avian friend made a very recognizable shrugging gesture, and she heaved a sigh pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation, before taking a fortifying breath, squaring her shoulders and turning, not to Whitebeard, but to Marco. Never in his long life could he have guessed what she said next.

“Look, you’re probably going to think I’m mad as a hatter, but I swear on my life this is true. As far as I can tell I’m not actually from your world.”

…~oO*Oo~…

Thatch listened with growing fascination as she began her explanation, describing things as best she could. Everything was so detailed, and magic sounded absolutely fascinating, the things she must’ve seen and done! It sounded amazing! He knew some of his brothers would be skeptical, but he believed her. After all, making up that kind of detail on the spot would be nearly impossible.

When she finished he took a minute to glance around the room, to take in what everyone else was thinking. Most looked like they wanted to believe her, but were skeptical, a handful looked outright disbelieving, only he, Izo, and Namur looked to actually believe her.

Interestingly she was only looking at Marco, apparently not caring about the rest of their opinions, and he certainly had to give her props for that. It wasn’t just anyone who could write off fifteen of sixteen of the Division Commanders and Oyaji himself in favor of Marco.

Unfortunately Marco’s face was completely blank, and while Thatch recognized it as his ‘processing’ face, his soulmate was looking decidedly hurt. Luckily it seemed he wasn’t the only one to notice.

“That’s quite the story girl,” Oyaji told her, his voice carefully neutral, drawing her attention away from Marco to give him a bit longer to process, “I would like to believe you, and I’ve found that often seeing is believing, would you care to demonstrate this magic of yours?”

“What would you like to see?” she offered immediately, winning over a few of those who’d been on the fence with her confident reply.

“That would depend on what exactly this magic of yours can do,” he told her thoughtfully.

She laughed, though there was a bitter edge to it, “The question should be what it can’t do. I’ve seen magic perform the strangest things, turn teacups to mice and back, make pineapples dance across the table, levitate things, change their colors, even create objects out of thin air.”

“I’ve also seen it, melt flesh from bone, force someone to regurgitate their own organs, drown someone in their own blood, light every single nerve on fire, force others to bend to the caster’s will, and even rip the soul from a body and obliterate it,” she informed them flatly, and Thatch was immediately reminded of the tone in which she’d told him she’d killed people before and shivered slightly, unable to help himself.

“But then I’ve also seen miracles,” she told them her face softening slightly, “I’ve seen bones regrown, buildings repaired, children protected, natural disasters prevented, lives saved with magic that could never have been without it. So what would you like to see?”

Thatch could see his Oyaji sizing her up, and that in that moment he had been won over, even before the demonstration began, because of the sheer emotion she exuded. Still it was probably best for the others’ sake to keep going so they could have proof, plus if he was honest with himself Thatch really wanted to see some magic.

“I think maybe you should give us a show, nothing too destructive, and nothing that would injure anyone, but something convincing,” Oyaji told her, leaning back in his chair.

She nodded a thoughtful look on her face, and Thatch was just beginning to wonder when exactly she was going to get started when she moved. The wooden stick appeared in her hand as if out of nowhere, twirling and dancing in her fingers.

A swarm of bubbles flew from the point of the stick, and each one began to flash different colors as they swirled around the room, dancing around everyone. A flick of her wrist and all the bubbles were multicolored butterflies, flitting around the room with bright flashing wings, another flick and the butterflies were birds, each singing a different vocal part in a chorus, darting in and out of the people around the table, some even pausing to land on some of the commanders, holding his hand out Thatch gave a laugh as he discovered they were completely solid as one landed in his palm, gently pecking his fingers.

Another signal and the birds flew up and out, flying in a circular pattern around the outskirts of the room, until they merged together, all turning blue, and the rushing of water filled his ears. He watched, awed and a little terrified as their circular table was suddenly the center of a hurricane, water roaring in his ears, the spray or droplets on his face a testament to how very real it all was.

The water flickered and burst into flames, the heat making him draw back, as it formed a shape, that writhed and floated up into the air. The shape reared its serpentine head, and wings flared, as a dragon made of fire flew into a coiling spiral above the table, the heat in the room becoming nearly unbearable as is roiled toward the ceiling before bursting into a shower of sparks that rained down as flower petals.

The sound of hoofbeats had him glancing over just in time to see an enormous silvery creature emerge from the tip of her stick. It was a buck, a huge one, with an impressive rack of antlers and it set off at a gallop around the table, the closer it got to him the warmer and safer he felt.

He was surprised as the phoenix, which had up to that point been forgotten at its spot on the table, burst into song. The effect of which, combined with the glowing buck could only be described as euphoria. As the last of the notes faded away the buck turned to the room and opened its mouth.

Thatch jerked in surprise as a very familiar voice emerged from within, it was Violetta’s, “Do you believe me now?”

Glancing around the room he noted that all of them, including Oyaji had some form of shock and awe on their faces. Admittedly Oyaji’s was only a single raised eyebrow of surprise, but considering it was Oyaji that was a whole hell of a lot. Thatch himself, now that the shock was wearing off could feel giddiness bubbling in his chest.

He knew later they’d all have to have a sit down and discuss the specifics of just what all she could do. Knew his brothers were probably already thinking of the advantages she could provide them, but all he could think to say at the moment was, “That was amazing!”

…~oO*Oo~…

“Thanks,” Violetta told him with an amused smile, glad he’d at least enjoyed the show. A part of her though was wondering if maybe she should’ve kept her abilities to herself, because on the faces around the room she could see the kind of calculation that made her skin crawl.

“Can you show me more?” he asked eagerly, practically bouncing in his seat, “What else can you do? Are all people in your world like you? What was that deer thing?”

The words were a torrent, and she was relieved to see at least one of them was just plain awed by magic, the way she had been when she first set foot into Diagon Alley. The others, not so much, and she made note out of the corner of her eye, which ones she would have to watch out for.

She wanted to stay here, wanted to get to know her soulmate, and to be a part of something, but not at the expense of her freedom. Not if it meant she was going to be used again. Not even for her soulmate.

A hand on her arm interrupted her thoughts, and she was surprised to find herself pulled into a warm embrace tucked gently under Marco’s chin. The Dursley’s had so starved her for affection growing up that most times she didn’t know how to react when it was offered.

Still her arms found their way around his waist, clutching the back of his jacket, and allowing herself a moment of comfort. He was warm, and he smelled like cinders, and sandalwood and something enticingly male. 

“She won’t be doing anymore magic unless she wants to ~yoi,” Marco informed Thatch warningly, and even though she couldn’t see his face she knew he was leveling a stern glare, not just at the redhead but at the entire table, if the guilty faces were any indication.

“Marco is correct,” Whitebeard spoke up, his voice a low rumble as he cast a disappointed look at the men that she could see from the safety of Marco’s arms, “No one will be taking advantage of Violetta’s magic, not without permission, she is Marco’s soulmate, and your newest sister. We are the Whitebeard pirates, not the marines or the world nobles, we do not use our family members that way.”

The order settled over the room like a lead blanket hanging heavy in the air with the weight of promise and she could see the shame on the faces of more than one of the men, but she could feel nothing but relief, practically sagging in Marco’s arms as she held on to him for support.

“Are you alright ~yoi?” he asked softly in her ear.

“I’m fine,” she answered automatically, and she could feel his grunt of disbelief.

Heaving a sigh she decided he deserved a better explanation of her turbulent thoughts, “Back in my world, from the time I entered the magical community everyone expected something from me. It’s kind of a long story as to why, but suffice to say I was famous for surviving an attack as an infant and killing my attacker, despite the fact that it was probably my parents who were responsible. Seeing as they were dead, I got the fame for it.”

“When I was eleven it was discovered that the man who had attacked me, a terrorist who commanded the loyalty of a small army, was still alive. Worse, thanks to a corrupt justice system, some of his strongest followers were not only alive but free. From then on it somehow became my job to fight him off.”

“On top of that I was famous, and rich, and everyone and their mother seemed to want something from me, people would come up in the streets trying to touch my scar, a souvenir from surviving as an infant, or say words, everyone wanted a piece of the ‘savior’ it was stressful, and when word finally broke about his return to life, everyone wanted me to save them.”

“It felt like everyone wanted something from me, and all I wanted was to just be left alone. Meanwhile I thought I had friends, I thought I’d created a family for myself that I could count on to watch my back. I got strong for their sake, did things I could never take back to protect them. I couldn’t have cared less about wizarding world at that point, but I promised myself I would defeat the mad terrorist for their sake to keep them safe.”

“That was a mistake, in the end it turned out, once the final battle was over and the dust settled, my so-called friends and family had been using me the entire time. None of them actually expected me to walk out of that final battle alive, they expected me to die and take the terrorist down with me, a martyr for their cause,” she gave a tired sad laugh, “I was stupid and naïve. I thought they cared for me, no, I thought they loved me, but I was wrong.”

“After they didn’t know what to do with me, they were afraid, because I was strong, one of the strongest in the world. Behind my back they had a law passed and a magic barrier created with blood they stole from my veins as I slept that would see me locked in a castle, forced to train the next generation of soldiers for their army.”

“I couldn’t get free. No matter what I tried I was stuck, there was nothing left to do. The only thing I had ever wanted, the freedom to live my life as I chose away from public ridicule, had been ripped away from me. I wanted to give up, I considered it, but then Fawkes showed up,” she felt Marco’s arms tighten around her, protective, solid and warm. 

“Fawkes had been a friend and companion nearly since the beginning, and in the end he was the only one I could count on. He saved me. I told him I would do anything to be free, and the next thing I know he dropped me here, straight into your arms.”

She pushed herself out of his hold then so she could look at him properly. He was staring at her his teal blue eyes alight in a mixture of rage and pride and sorrow and other things she couldn’t identify, and despite the warm feelings that look inspired, there was still something that had to be said.

“So now I’m fine, better than fine because I found you, and you’re my soulmate, and if things work the way I desperately want them to work then everything will be okay, but I’m not going to lose my freedom again Marco, not for you, not for anyone. I won’t be trapped here and I won’t be used. I will slit my own throat first,” her words rang with finality and a hint of magic, it was a vow, as close to unbreakable as she could get without someone to bond her.

“Listen to me ~yoi,” Marco told her firmly his voice low and intense reaching up to cup her face in his large calloused hands, “I am a pirate because the one thing in the world I value most is freedom. The ability to live my life the way I choose.”

“I swear to you, I will never ever take that away from you, nor will I allow anyone else to do so ~yoi,” he told her intently, “I will _protect_ you but more than that I will _support_ you in anything you want to do. If that means finding a way back to your world so you can wreak bloody vengeance fine, if it means running off to an obscure island on your own and hiding away for the rest of your life fine, if it means rampaging through the Grand Line, starting your own pirate crew, setting out to explore the world fine. Just so long as you’re okay and you maybe stop by to visit me here sometimes…”

“I don’t know what I want to do yet,” she told him quietly, after he trailed off, “ I haven’t had a whole lot of time to think about it, and I don’t think I’ll be making a decision for a while, but for now at least I think I want to stay, right here with you, because one of the things I’ve always wanted was and is my soulmate. I want to know you. I want to be with you.”

“Anything you want ~yoi,” he promised her, running a gentle thumb over her cheek before allowing his hands to trace a path down her shoulders and arms to her hands.

“I want to believe you,” she admitted in a small voice, feeling guilty for her inability to trust him, because he was her soulmate, and she should be able to trust her soulmate above all others, but she’d been hurt, too deeply and too often for that.

“It’s all right,” he soothed gently running his hands up and down her arms, “It’s going to take time, that’s more than fair. You don’t know me. I don’t know you, but we’ll work at it I promise.”

“Okay,” she told him though her voice wobbled a bit, and he knew she was close to tears before she took a deep breath and steadied herself before repeating it more firmly, “Okay.”

…~oO*Oo~…

Jozu grimaced as guilt curled sourly in his stomach watching Marco fight to earn his soulmate’s trust. He could tell that the two of them had a long road ahead of them, but looking at them he could see the fragile beginnings of something beautiful.

He had the feeling that the two of them together could be something amazing, if they got the chance. The problem was going to be getting them that chance, especially given how delicate the situation was. 

The fact of the matter was Marco’s soulmate for all her magical power and fierce demeanor was in a pretty delicate state emotionally right now, and who could blame her. He was sure there was more to the story, but from the short summary she’d given them it was obvious everyone she had ever known had tried to use her or hurt her, and then when they were done, they’d locked her away somewhere to be somewhat useful but mostly forgotten, like an unwanted tool stored in the attic only to be brought out when it served a purpose.

Guilt was eating him because his first thought, after digesting that her magic was real, was wondering how she could help fortify the ship, calculating how much she could add to their defensive power. He felt sick to his stomach as he realized his first thought had been just what everyone had been doing to her all her life, wondering how he could use her.

From the sick shame on several of the faces around the table he wasn’t the only one. Oyaji had been right to scold them, this was Marco’s soulmate, their newest sister. They should be treating her that way, instead of looking at her like she was a new weapon, tool, or toy, and he resolved to treat her that way. He couldn’t imagine what the two of them were going through right now, as they tried to find their footing.

His relationship with Ria had been much easier than this, a straightforward meeting at a coffeehouse, several trips to see her, and finally an agreement to come aboard the Moby Dick as one of the nurses. Sure they’d had their ups and downs, but nothing like this.

They were going to need support, and all of them, not just Marco were going to have to prove they were trustworthy, and it had to start now.

“I think,” he began slowly catching the attention of everyone in the room, including the two soulmates, “That we all need to promise right here, right now to keep our new sister’s abilities and origins a secret.”

“They are her abilities after all, and it’s her secret to share or not, not ours, if she wants to tell people fine, but for now I think keeping quiet is the best idea,” Jozu announced taking in the reactions of the people around the table, “Because as well meaning as our brothers are there are a good number of them who would probably pester her for her abilities, and once word gets out of what she can do beyond this small circle, there’s a good chance the World Government will take an interest, which is not something I would wish on anyone let alone our new family member.”

Heads were nodding around the table, muttered agreements filling the air even before he finished as he turned his attention to Violetta, “Is this alright with you.”

She looked so surprised, to be asked her opinion, that it was like another knife to the gut, as he wondered briefly how many people had asked for her permission before making decisions about her life before. Probably not many judging from that look.

“It’s a good idea,” she said finally, “I don’t know about your Government, but if it’s as corrupt as mine was then I’d like to stay off their radar for as long as possible.”

Jozu nodded and he turned to glance at Oyaji who was giving him a proud smile.

“It’s done then, not a word of Violetta’s abilities leaves this room, or I will hear about it,” Whitebeard ordered putting the full weight of his authority behind the words.

His fellow Division Commanders all nodded, and he watched as Marco coaxed her around the table and into his lap when he took his customary spot at Oyaji’s right as slowly discussion turned to different matters, ones that didn’t revolve around Marco’s new soulmate, though they did make it a point to include her in the conversation, asking questions and opinions. She was well spoken, polite, and direct when need be, and every time she responded it was well thought out.

Once more he could see the beginnings of something beautiful between her and Marco. It was there in the glances they exchanged, the way they leaned into the others touch and in the quiet whispered discussions between the two of them before Marco would offer his own input on different matters.

Right now it was as fragile as glass, but he would protect it, until time and trust tempered it into something stronger than diamond. That was what family did after all.

…~oO*Oo~…

The meeting only broke up when Thatch announced that he had to start on dinner unless everyone wanted to go hungry that night. Luckily because Fawkes the phoenix had returned relatively quickly they weren’t hurting for rations, and the group quickly dispersed, everyone going their different directions.

Marco took hold of Violetta’s hand and carefully guided her out, leading her in the direction of one of the Moby’s smaller, lesser known decks, so that the two of them could discuss some things in privacy, something they hadn’t actually had yet. Luckily it seemed his intentions were clear to his brothers, and they glared warningly at the others, as Marco led her away, keeping them from following.

Her hand felt so small and fragile in his that it was hard to remember how extremely dangerous she had proven herself to be. Magic, and the fact that his soulmate was apparently some kind of alien, was more than a little bit difficult to wrap his head around. Still it was part of her, and just for that he could accept it without too many questions.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked curiously, as they ducked through a small gap in the rigging.

“It’s one of the upper decks. It’s small and private. I figured we could go there and maybe talk without an audience, get to know one another better ~yoi,” he told her carefully, “Unless there’s something else you’d prefer?”

“No, no talking sounds good,” she told him offering him a shy smile.

Neither of them said anything else, as they scrambled up on to the hidden deck. He had been a little concerned she’d have trouble, but it turned out she was quite agile, and took to the rigging like a monkey took to trees.

Seeing his impressed look she admitted, “I climbed a lot of trees growing up.”

The darkly humorous look that accompanied that made him worry, because how the hell could climbing trees be a bad memory, and just how much had his soulmate suffered?

Up on the deck he settled himself on to the sun-warmed planks, leaning against the rails and turned, watching as she settled in next to him. Not liking the distance, and with the impulse to keep his hands on her at all times in mind, he gently took hold of her legs, watching for a protest and seeing none, he lifted them into his lap so her shins were across his thighs.

In response she leaned against the railings, wrapping one arm around them to keep her balance, and toed off her shoes, letting them fall to the deck with two soft plops, revealing extremely colorful socks on her feet. He watched for a minute as a strange gold ball with wings in the design zoomed around its crimson background, wondering at how strange magic was.

“So what were you hoping to talk about?” she asked, her face unreadable to his gaze, though he thought he saw hints of trepidation in her eyes.

“I thought we could get to know one another,” he answered gently. He was glad the idea of having her here was sinking in, and his thoughts had returned to being practical, and more importantly coherent.

“You know quite a bit about me already,” she told him with a sardonic smile on her lips.

“No,” he replied firmly, “I know a little of your past, but that doesn’t mean I know you, and I’d like for you to get to know me as well.”

“So what exactly were you thinking?” she seemed interested enough, which was a good sign.

“I figured we’d just trade questions,” he shrugged, “Seems like a tried and true method, nothing too fancy.”

“Alright, so we’ll just go back and forth one for one?” she clarified, and he nodded.

“Would you like to go first ~yoi?” he offered.

She watched him for a moment, taking a second to decide before asking, “Why did you decide to become a pirate?”

“Starting off with the tough ones?” he asked amused. She just shrugged completely unapologetic. He liked that about her.

“It’s both very complicated and very simple ~yoi,” he answered giving the question the thought it deserved, “I wanted to be free, free to live my life without fear and to do whatever I chose. In order to be strong enough to do that I had two options, pirate or marine, and the marines had far too many rules and regulations to feel like freedom to me.”

“What’s your favorite color?” he asked into the silence that followed his answer.

“My favorite color?” she repeated dubiously, obviously wondering why he’d followed up her tough question with one so shallow.

“And why,” he tacked on, an amused smile on his lips.

“Alright,” she said slowly still looking at him strangely but apparently deciding to humor him, “Red, not like in your face red, but more crimson, like Fawkes, the color as the sun sets and rises, as for why…. I don’t know, it’s warm I guess and bright.”

“Why do you follow your Captain? Why not be captain yourself?” she asked determinedly.

“I’m not much for leading ~yoi,” he told her with a shrug, then grimaced because it was the answer he’d been giving people for years, and while it was true it wasn’t the entirety of his reasoning, and she deserved honesty from him, “Or at least, I don’t like being the person who has to make the final call, the tough decisions. I’m not as charismatic as Oyaji is either, plus Oyaji has been my captain for decades now, there’s no one on this earth I’m closer or more loyal to.”

“What’s your favorite flower?”

“Lilies,” she answered immediately, “Crimson fire lilies to be exact. My mother was a redhead named Lily and they remind me of her. How old are you exactly?”

Marco winced, he should’ve expected that one after he’d dropped the bit about decades, “I don’t suppose I could get away with just saying, older than you’d expect could I?”

“Yeah I didn’t think so,” he murmured seeing the flat expression she was giving him, “Sixty-three.”

She gaped at him, shock written all over her face as she slowly gave him a thorough once over, obviously looking for some kind of hint that he was telling the truth, though there was a skeptical expression on her face, and he decided he needed to explain, “My Devil Fruit ability means I age really slowly.”

“I, suppose that’s good then, we’re well matched,” she told him a thoughtful look on her face, “Magic means all Witches and Wizards age slower than those without magic, and the stronger you are magically the slower you age.”

“How old are you then?” he returned curiously.

“Don’t you know you’re not supposed to ask a lady her age?” she asked a teasing light in her eyes.

“You asked first ~yoi,” he pointed out reasonably, lips quirking in response to her amusement.

“Yeah but you’re no lady,” she countered, “Or at least I didn’t think you were.”

“I assure you I am very much male ~yoi,” then gestured to his bare chest, “I thought that was obvious.”

“Well I mean you could just be very flat,” she teased lightly.

“You want more evidence?” he teased right back, hands going to his sash again.

“No, no, I believe you,” she told him flapping a hand at him, a slight pink tinge to her cheeks.

“So your age then?” he prompted amused.

“Alright, if you must know I’m thirty-two,” she admitted with a sigh. Looking her over he knew it wasn’t as startling as him being over sixty, but given her appearance he would have pegged her at twenty-three at the absolute oldest, closer to nineteen if he was honest, which probably should’ve made him feel like a cradle robber, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“What’s a Devil Fruit?” she asked interestedly. He looked at her startled, and again reminded himself that she wasn’t from this world. There was a good chance a lot of things they had there, they didn’t have here and vice versa.

“A Devil Fruit, is a fruit said to be created by the Devil himself, it grants whoever eats it some kind of special ability, but in return it takes away your ability to swim and makes you weak to seawater,” he explained, trying to explain it clearly, “There are three classifications of Devil Fruit, Zoan, which allows the user to turn into an animal form, logia which gives the user control over an element, and paramecia which has three subclasses, they either let you manipulate your body in some strange way, produce some sort of substance, or allow you to manipulate the environment.”

“That seems really interesting, most of that I can do with my magic, but I’m sure some of it must be really amazing,” she told him, “The potential is near limitless! Though from what I remember from that map earlier, most of your world is ocean, so I could see why people choose not to do it if they find them. What’s your Devil Fruit power then?”

“Ah-ah! It’s my turn ~yoi” he told her, amused by her enthusiasm. She gave him a slightly annoyed look, but then huffed a sigh amusement making her lips twitch and gestured for him to go ahead.

“If you could visit some place in the world where would it be?” he asked.

“This may sound silly to you,” she admitted a sheepish look on her face, “Especially considering how many your world must have, but I’ve always wanted to go to a place with an amazing beach, with warm sand and clear blue ocean. It’s funny because I actually grew up on an island, but never once was I allowed to visit the ocean. I’ve always wanted to though.”

“Well, that should be an easy enough wish to fulfill at least,” Marco told her with an amused smile, though again he had to wonder what kind of life she’d lived, that phrasing ‘that I was allowed’ didn’t exactly reassure him. He kept those thoughts off his face though and smiled at her instead, “Though you’d be surprised I think about some of those islands you saw, especially in the Grand Line. And it isn’t silly. Despite not being able to swim I still enjoy the beach, it’s a great place to unwind.”

“Alright so what is your Devil Fruit power?” she leaned forward in interest, bracing her hands on her thighs, green eyes shining intently.

“I fall into the zoan category,” he hedged just to see the slightly annoyed look she shot him, encouraging him hurry the hell up, she was cute when she got riled, “But I’m a bit different from normal Zoans, normal zoans turn into normal animals like deer, cats, dogs, jungle animals etcetera, and thus they only receive powers like enhanced strength, speed and senses, which is why mine is different.”

“I received all those things, but I also got something extra, as I said before I age slower, but that I think is a side effect of my power,” he explained drawing it out, “I can heal myself, of pretty much anything, and make myself impervious to certain types of attacks.”

She frowned confused, “But I thought you said you were a zoan? The animal one right? Wouldn’t that be considered paramecia?”

“I’m getting there, have some patience,” he told her then paused, and smirked at her, earning an extremely annoyed look in return. He jumped, startled as her fingers darted out and pinched him lightly in the side. It didn’t hurt, and even if it had it would’ve healed right away. He was kind of impressed by her daring though, not many would try something like that with him, and he found it refreshing.

“What was that for ~yoi?” he teased lightly and was greeted with the sight of her pouting up at him.

“You know why,” she accused, her lower lip jutting out slightly, and her eyes alight. He took in the expression and huffed a laugh, reaching out to tap one of his fingers on her protruding lower lip, earning a surprised and confused glance.

“Cute ~yoi,” he explained, surprised but pleased to see her eyes widen and dart away to look at her lap and a flush rise into her cheeks.

“I’m what they call a mythical zoan,” he explained to save her further embarrassment. He wasn’t going to push her too far just yet, not when they had just met, but he was enjoying this interaction with her, a lot, “A phoenix to be exact.”

Her face jerked up from her lap so fast he was surprised she didn’t give herself whiplash, “A phoenix really? Like Fawkes? Can I see?”

“That’s another question, in fact it was two extra ~yoi,” he pointed out, lips twitching in amusement as her eyes narrowed at him in annoyance.

“I’ll answer, but I get three in return,” he informed her just to rile her a bit more. She simply raised a brow at him and gestured at him to get on with it.

“Yes I’m a phoenix, I wouldn’t lie about it, it’s actually my epithet on my bounty poster Marco the Phoenix, real original I know,” he told her with a smirk, “And I will show you, not now, later when it’s dark, maybe after dinner.”

Seeing her questioning look he told her, “I’ve been told it’s more impressive then, and as for like Fawkes, I don’t really know. I didn’t really get around to comparing our similarities and differences before he took off to get you, and I don’t think I understand him as well as you do, which I think is my first question for you. How come you understand him so well?”

“It’s because he’s my familiar,,” she explained with a shrug, “Witches and Wizards can create a special bond with a singular magical animal so long as that animal is willing. The bond allows them to communicate more effectively and creates a very close relationship.”

“So it can only happen with one animal?” he asked interested.

“Only one at once, though if the familiar dies the witch or wizard can bond with another one though that’s pretty rare as the magic in a familiar bond is supposed to extend the lifespan of the animal to match the human,” she clarified, glancing overhead to where the firebird they were discussing was perched in the rigging.

“So what kind of animals are these exactly?” he inquired lightly.

“Oh anything and everything,” she told him a small smile touching her lips, “There are rarer ones like Fawkes and I knew someone who had a raven once, but the most common are magical versions of cats, dogs, toads, and owls.”

“You had another familiar before Fawkes didn’t you ~yoi?” he prompted gently, seeing the tired, wistful look on her face.

“It’s not your turn to ask a question,” she informed him, though it fell a little flat given the unhappy twist to her lips and way her hand was clenching and unclenching on the railings she was leaned against.

“But yes, I did. Her name was Hedwig and she was the most beautiful snowy owl I’d ever seen. She was intelligent, extremely so even for a familiar, and brave and oh so loyal. When I wasn’t at school, during the summers she was my only companion,” she explained quietly her arms wrapping around her torso as if to protect herself from pain.

“She was killed by that terrorist I told you about, because I was stupid and careless and even though it’s been nearly fifteen years now I still miss her,” she murmured looking out over the ocean.

Marco grimaced in sympathy. As the First Division Commander he knew what it was like to lose a companion. He hadn’t meant to bring up more bad memories though, which was why he’d been keeping his questions light. Unfortunately it was starting to seem like his soulmate had more bad memories than good, which made his self-appointed task that much more difficult.

Reaching out he tugged his soulmate closer and pulled her, unprotesting, into his lap, offering her physical comfort in lieu of opening his mouth and accidently treading on a landmine. She was stiff at first, but eventually relaxed, settling back against his chest and turning her head to press the side of her face against his bare chest.

“It’s your turn to ask a question,” he prompted gently rubbing his hands up and down her arms, “You can even ask two if you like.”

She huffed quietly in some small amusement and he counted that as a victory before asking, “What’s the tattoo?”

“It’s a variation of Oyaji’s mark,” he explained easily, “Almost all of the Whitebeard pirates have some variation or another of the mark on them to show their loyalty. The Division Commanders all have theirs tattooed but a lot of the crew wear the mark on their clothing or as jewelry instead.”

“Division Commanders,” she repeated reaching for his hands and twining his fingers with hers, “What are those exactly.”

“Oyaji has over fifteen hundred people in his crew,” Marco explained lightly playing with her small hands, rubbing circles over the backs and toying with her slender fingers, “That’s far too many for one man to handle and keep track of. Thus he created the Divisions. Each Division has about one hundred people in it give or take, who report to the Division Commander and the Commanders all report to each other and to Oyaji. It helps keep things running more smoothly, and cuts down on the work Oyaji has to do, leaving him more time to just interact with his crew, rather than spend his days doing paperwork.”

“Do you have any tattoos ~yoi?” he prompted.

“None, other than scars the only mark on me is yours,” she told him. He hummed in approval, he kind of liked the idea of being the only one to mark her.

“You said paperwork right? So pirates actually do paperwork?” she asked clearly confused.

“Yes, we have to, someone has to keep track of everyone, make sure we have all the supplies we need, medicines, bandages, food, water, and booze! Plus we have to keep track of where we are and where we’re going and what supplies are best to get where, while also keeping an eye on our treasure levels to ensure we can fund ourselves because let me tell you it’s not cheap to keep everyone fed, and happy!” he told her firmly, the lecture spilling from his lips with the ease of long practice, “Not to mention the chores, like cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and scheduling the watch, all of which has to be coordinated and scheduled to make sure the ship is kept livable and running, it is our home after all.”

She snorted in amusement, and he could feel himself flush, grateful that she couldn’t see him from where she was perched in his lap. He might’ve been just a little bit overzealous in his answer, but in his defense the lecture was usually for Thatch or some of the other less responsible Division Commanders who were whining and dragging their feet about doing the paperwork.

“I’m glad you’re amused ~yoi,” he informed her dryly to keep face, “What’s your favorite food?”

“Treacle tart!” she answered immediately, “It’s the most wonderful dessert in the world, and I adore it.”

“I’ve never heard of that ~yoi,” he admitted.

“You’ve never heard of it?” she demanded pulling her head away from his chest so she could stare up at him with wide horrified eyes, “Does that mean it doesn’t exist here?! That I can never have it again?”

“I wouldn’t know,” he told her with an amused shrug, “You’d have to ask Thatch.”

“Don’t think that I won’t,” she warned him, “To think a world without treacle tart! What kind of barbaric place is this?”

“Is that your return question ~yoi?” he asked with a chuckle, “Because I’m not sure how to answer.”

The look she gave him was very unimpressed and she huffed before settling back on to his chest, “No, it wasn’t, what do you do for fun? Besides paperwork.”

“Haha ~yoi,” he said flatly an amused smirk on his lips at her cheek, “I like to read, and relax when I can. I also like to fly in my phoenix form.”

“Flying is pretty amazing,” she confirmed a knowing in her voice that surprised him.

“You’ve flown?” he asked surprised.

“I’m counting that as your question and yes I’ve flown,” she told him sounding more than a bit smug, “I was one of the best flyers my school had ever seen. All Magicals can fly. Though most do it with the help of a broomstick. I like that method, but I can also free fly, which is more like hovering and floating around really than flying, and my Animagus form is capable of flight as well.”

“I think I maybe understood one word in five of that~yoi,” he told her a little dazedly, “You fly with broomsticks? Seriously? And what the hell is an Animagus?”

“I’m counting those as questions too,” she informed him with a faux superior sniff, “Yes we fly with broomsticks, they’re enchanted with layers upon layers of magic. I actually have mine with me, shrunken down as emergency transport see.”

Marco watched in surprise as she pulled a chain out from under shirt and held a particular charm up in front of his face. He accepted the tiny thing, no bigger than his pinky nail, eying it curiously.

“I’d have to un-shrink it to ride it of course, but that is a classic Firebolt broomstick, it’s an awesome ride, and can travel upwards of two hundred kilometers an hour,” she said enthusiastically, “They’ve made newer models since this one came out of course, that supposedly go faster and are better, but I’ve tried them and none of them compare to this one.”

“As for being an Animagus, that’s an ability much like your Zoan devil fruit I think, to turn into one specific animal at will,” she explained accepting the broom back from him.

“And what’s your Animagus form then?” he asked curiously.

“Ah-ah-ah, my turn,” she scolded firmly, earning an amused smirk from him.

“Favorite color, favorite food, and favorite animal? Outside of phoenixes of course,” she prompted.

“Favorite color is purple,” he told her with a chuckle, amused that she was repeating his questions back to him, “Favorite food? Dates. And as for favorite animal, probably any kind of bird really. I like how free they are. Now, what’s your Animagus form then?”

“I’m a falcon,” she told him the pride in her voice clear, “Specifically the Peregrine Falcon. And it’s kind of funny your favorite food is dates, that’s Fawkes’ favorite as well. I wonder if it’s a phoenix thing.”

“I don’t know ~yoi,” he answered with a shrug, then added a touch reluctantly “But what I do know is that it’s almost time to eat, and I’m getting hungry, which means we should probably be getting back.”

He felt more than heard her sigh, and he liked to think she removed herself from his lap with reluctance, pushing herself to her feet and stretching before offering him a hand up as well. He accepted it easily, and pulled himself to his feet, but didn’t bother to release her hand.

“This was nice,” she told him a wistful smile on her face, “It was a good idea on your part, thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me,” he told her firmly, “It was good, for both of us honestly, and we should do it again.”

She nodded in agreement, squeezing his hand gently, before allowing him to lead her away toward the Galley where he knew his brothers were going to be waiting for them.

…~oO*Oo~…

Izo tapped one of his long fingers against the table impatiently, glancing around the room, a worried frown on his face. The atmosphere was a fairly boisterous, and cheerful one, with discussions, arguments, and the clatter of utensils on plates. This was fairly normal for the Whitebeard Pirates, and normally it would be something that brought him peace. It was a family atmosphere and he always felt peaceful when surrounded by family.

However normally the discussion and arguments in the galley weren’t all centered around Marco’s new soulmate. The anticipation in the air as everyone kept half an eye on the door was making him antsy. He didn’t like it, not one bit. Not when the new relationship between Marco and his soulmate was in such a fragile state.

He knew his family was a lot to take even for most people, and Violetta obviously wasn’t most people. Earlier when she’d been telling Marco about the circumstances that had led to her rather spectacular arrival Izo had recognized in her a kindred spirit. Someone who, while still appearing strong and fierce was more than a bit broken.

He’d been the same way back before he’d met Thatch and the Whitebeard pirates. Sailing around with his crew doing his best to forget the past he’d left behind him, allowing the vast blue waters of the ocean to wash it all away. Only it hadn’t really washed away, or healed him over time the way he had hoped, he just got better at hiding and not thinking about it.

It wasn’t until he met Thatch that he really felt himself begin to heal. Knowing his soulmate loved and wanted him was a gift he’d never truly felt worthy of. However it was one he was extremely thankful for. With Thatch and the rest of the Whitebeard pirates’ love and support he’d begun to open up, to bleed his festering wounds clean, and give them the attention they needed to heal over.

He was hoping that Marco would be able to do the same kind of thing for Violetta, and of course he would be there, along with the rest of the Division Commanders, to offer his unwavering support. Unfortunately despite their similar tragic pasts, their circumstances as they came into the Whitebeard Pirates were vastly different.

To start with, back when he’d met Thatch he wasn’t a Division Commander, just a regular member of the Fourth Division, which meant that outside of chores he was free to devote all his time and attention to helping Izo and winning him over. Marco was already a Division Commander, and not just any Division Commander, but the First Division Commander, which put an enormous amount of pressure and responsibility on his shoulders.

Unlike Thatch, Marco wasn’t going to be able to devote all his time to Violetta, he had duties that quite frankly no one else could manage as well as he could. Which is where he and the other Division Commanders came in. Surprisingly enough it was actually Thatch who had rounded up all the Commanders and Oyaji again after the two new soulmates had left, and spoken to them.

He’d told them that all of them, himself included were going to have to be more conscientious about getting their work done and on time, to stress Marco out as little as possible and give him free time to spend with Violetta. He had then gone on to suggest that those of them who could, take what duties and responsibilities they thought they could shoulder, off of Marco’s pile at least until Violetta was a little bit more settled.

Izo wasn’t sure he’d ever been more proud of his soulmate, and no one had argued with him. Instead they’d all, Oyaji included, set down to see who could do what to lighten Marco’s burden.

Still, even with that Violetta’s position as Marco’s soulmate was going to be a difficult one in that she was going to be under a lot of scrutiny, both inside and outside of their family. Izo had come under scrutiny too of course, Thatch was a popular guy even back then and many had wondered if he was going to be good enough for the pompadour-ed man.

Izo had been forced to prove himself, over and over again to get their respect, and he knew Jozu and Vista’s soulmates had gone through the same thing. Unfortunately their troubles would be nothing compared to Violetta’s, once again because Marco, was Marco the First Division Commander, and pretty much admired over all others except Oyaji.

He could understand that. He himself admired Marco a great deal, and would probably subtly watch her for a while until he judged her a good partner for his brother, and he knew the other Division Commanders felt the same outside of Thatch, but then Thatch was an anomaly, and had apparently decided Violetta deserved his full fledged approval from the get-go. 

Still at least they would be subtle about it. There was no doubt in his mind that some of his brothers would probably openly test their First Division Commander’s soulmate. He accepted it was going to happen whether he liked it or not, there was nothing he and the other Commanders could do. 

He just hoped it wouldn’t put too much strain on the budding relationship because he wanted desperately for this to work out. He was a romantic at heart, and had longed for Marco to find his other half and be happy. That his other half was someone he could relate to, and that seemed to be in desperate need of the love and support Izo knew both Marco and the crew could provide was just an added bonus.

Unfortunately despite the fact that he may wish otherwise, their relationship was down to Marco and Violetta. He and the other Commanders could do little things to ease their way, but in the end it was up to them to make it into the beautiful thing he knew it could be. He just hoped they were strong enough to make it through the hurdles that were coming their way.

The door swung open, revealing Marco, and Violetta, and Izo winced as instantly all attention was on the pair of them, their brothers and sisters craning their necks and some even standing on tables and chairs in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Violetta.

They had been holding hands when they came in, and Izo was gratified to see that despite the sudden attention neither of them released their hold on the other. Even from where he was seated he could see Violetta’s astonishing green eyes darting around cataloguing all the people in the room.

Marco had looked startled when he first entered, but now he just looked annoyed, leveling a look at the room that normally would have sent everyone back to their seats, not today though.

“If you’re done gawking at us, we’d like to eat ~yoi,” Marco informed them dryly, his face pinching with annoyance when barely anyone moved, “That means knock it off, before Violetta starts thinking none of you have any manners.’

“I’m going to start thinking _you_ don’t have any manners if you don’t start calling me Vi, Marco,” she quipped into the quiet her mouth quirking in wry amusement, “Though I do have to ask, since when do pirates care about manners anyway?”

“Hear, hear!” someone in the crowd shouted to raucous laughter and applause, as the quiet tension broke, and conversation started up again, though a good majority kept her in their peripherals even if they weren’t outright staring.

Izo watched on in silent approval as Marco leaned down to whisper something in Violetta’s ear, and she shook her head at him, gesturing for him to lead. Marco affectionately tucked a piece of hair away from her face and nodded, guiding her toward where the food was sitting out so everyone could help themselves.

“She handled that well,” Jiru remarked quietly to the table where the Division Commanders were all sitting, having decided earlier to keep themselves separate for the evening so that Violetta wouldn’t be quite as overwhelmed.

“Indeed, most impressive,” Vista remarked from his place beside his soulmate, the only two extras at their table.

Izo waited for Marco to turn away from the food and lifted a hand so he could see them, gesturing for them to come over. Marco nodded in acknowledgment, but it looked like they might be waiting a while for the two of them to join them, because they didn’t even make it five steps before someone was intercepting them.

“That’s Cas,” Hana grimaced seeing the interloper as well. 

“Quick, Jozu, go help her, she doesn’t deserve having Cas sicced on her right away,” Ria ordered her soulmate with a wince.

“She’s going to have to meet him eventually,” Fossa pointed out reasonably blowing out a puff of smoke from his cigar, “He’s Marco’s second in command after all.”

“Too late to do anything now anyway,” Namur added just seconds before Cas’ voice rang out over the Galley, making a hush fall over the watching pirates once more.

“So what makes you think you’re good enough for our First Division Commander?” he demanded, and Izo winced at his confrontational tone. Everyone knew that despite his seeming invulnerability Cas was extremely protective of Marco.

“Cas, back off ~yoi,” Marco’s low threatening tone carried throughout the suddenly very still Galley, it wasn’t very often that Marco got riled, but when he did it was best to back the hell off. It seemed Violetta was going to be one of the very few things that could potentially trigger Marco’s temper, as he moved his body in between her and Cas.

“I’m just asking a question,” Cas informed him, crossing his arms over his chest, “The rest of the Division and I discussed this already, we want to talk to her.”

“Talk to her?” Marco repeated flatly, “This isn’t talking to her, this is confronting her in front of an audience, it’s more like attacking her.”

“It was a group decision to handle things this way,” Cas repeated firmly, and Izo had to admire his guts if not his brains, not everyone could stand up to Marco on the edge of a temper.

“So it’s a mutiny then?” Marco asked low and quiet, and Izo winced as Cas blanched. He knew that wasn’t the way Cas meant it, but he could see why Marco might take it that way. This was starting to get really bad. He shifted in his seat trying to decide whether he should interfere.

“Of course not!” Cas protested immediately, “We would never!”

Izo shifted and made to stand as Marco took a step forward toward Cas, but Thatch’s hand on his arm made him stop. He lifted a brow at his soulmate in surprise, but Thatch didn’t say anything instead gesturing toward Violetta, who had fallen to the side during the confrontation, and was watching with a frown on her face.

“You…” Marco paused, and Izo nearly gaped in surprise as he realized Violetta had moved forward and set her hand on his arm, demanding attention.

“Marco,” it was just his name, but Izo could tell the word held a world of meaning behind it, the most prominent one being, “please let me handle this one.”

Marco frowned in response and Izo was sure he was going to protest, but Violetta spoke before he could, “He’s just concerned Marco, please?”

Izo watched in shock as Marco caved and stepped back, moving himself behind Violetta, no longer shielding her from view, though his free hand, the one not holding his food, had come down to latch firmly around her waist as a show of support.

“Your question then,” Violetta said promptly turning her intense green eyes on Cas.

“To begin with, though it’s obvious to me you hold your Commander in high esteem, I don’t like the way it was phrased. ‘Good enough’ implies that I am somehow lesser, for the record I’m not. I refuse to be anything less than equal to my soulmate in our relationship,” she informed him firmly, her voice clear and carrying.

“It also implies that I somehow have to meet some unknown standard in order to be worthy of having a relationship with him, thus how would I know whether I am or am not ‘good enough’ without knowing the standard?” she asked wryly.

“Phrasing it the way you have has only done one thing, which is to set me up for confrontation, and try to see my reaction. I think that by now you and whoever else you spoke with realize by now that this was a rather poor decision yes?” she queried sharply, her disappointed gaze moving from Cas and sweeping around the room.

Izo could see several of his brothers, all of whom belonged to the First Division, shifting guiltily in their seats, and was gratified to see Cas nodding along with her question.

“Good then,” Violetta confirmed firmly, “Now because I know you set this all up with the best of intentions I will do my best to answer what I think you actually want to know, which was how do I know that I am _right_ for Marco. How do I know that I will make him happy and vice versa.”

“The answer to that is that I don’t,” she answered herself brutally honest, “I don’t know if I’m right for him, or if he’s right for me, at this moment all was have to go on is a few short hours spent together and the words inked on both of our skins.”

“However I can tell you that so far things look good for us, or at least for me. In the short time I’ve known him I’ve found several things about him that I like, and I hope that he’s done the same,” she told the room, glancing back at Marco, and covering the hand he had on her waist with one of her own, twining her fingers with his, “He makes me smile, he doesn’t seem to mind my quirks and he makes me feel safe for the first time in a very, _very_ long time.”

She turned back to Cas completely missing the affectionate smile on Marco’s face, though neither Cas nor Izo did, and Izo hoped from the thoughtful look on Cas’ face that he was seeing it as a good thing the way that Izo was.

“Unfortunately that’s all I know for now. We don’t really know each other well enough for more, so I hope that, that’s enough for now, and if not, well I’ll just have to get back to you now won’t I?” she asked offering her hand to Cas in what was clearly a peace gesture.

Izo held his breath as Cas studied it, then her, hoping against hope that he wasn’t about to do something stupid. He breathed a sigh of relief as a slow smile dawned over the other man’s face and he accepted the offered hand.

“I think I’d like that, and I think I’d like to know you Miss Violetta,” Cas told her clasping her hand firmly.

“I’d like to know you as well,” she told him, clear sincerity in her voice and face, “Dinner tomorrow? I even promise to ditch my soulmate if you bring your friends.”

Izo sucked in a surprised breath. It was a bold move on her part, putting herself at the mercy of the First Division, and from the look on his face Marco clearly didn’t like it much, but Cas did if the amused grin on his face meant anything.

“Can do Miss Violetta,” he told her with a chuckle.

“Call me Vi,” she ordered gently, “All my friends do.”

“Vi then,” he affirmed, “And I’m Casper but everyone calls me Cas.”

“Nice to meet you,” Violetta said sincerely.

“And you as well,” Cas replied tipping his hat, “I best let you get to your meal now though, or your food will get cold. Have a good evening Vi, Commander.”

He nodded to both of them and sauntered back to the table he’d come from, conversation beginning to pick up again as Marco and Violetta made their way over to the table, Marco’s hand on her waist, gently guiding her. They set their trays down in the seats between Izo and Thatch, the ones they’d left open for them, and sank down into them.

“Are you alright Violetta?” Marco asked quietly as the noise in the Galley rose high enough that no one but Izo, Thatch, and Jozu and his soulmate Ria across from them would be able to hear.

“I’m alright,” Violetta told him letting out a shaky breath, “Just give me a moment to come down from the adrenalin, and what did I say about my name?”

“But I like Violetta ~yoi,” Marco told her gently rubbing his hand along her back, “It’s pretty and if everyone calls you Vi, I want to call you something different.”

“Then call me something different, just not Violetta,” she ordered her nose wrinkling in distaste, “It reminds me too much of my Aunt and Uncle.”

“Alright,” Marco told her, though the frown on his face told Izo he hadn’t liked the way she said ‘anut and uncle’ either, “I’ll try to think of something.”

“You handled that really, really well,” Ria praised from her spot next to Jozu, “The first time one of Jozu’s Division tried to ask me what my intentions were with their Commander I hid behind him. I’m Ria by the way, Jozu’s soulmate.”

“Vi,” Violetta returned with a smile, “And thank you. I like to think I’ve gotten better at speaking to potentially hostile crowds over the years.”

“Potentially hostile crowds?” Thatch asked concerned, voicing what they were all thinking.

“Yeah, being famous will do that do you, though this lot reminded more of the classes I used to teach than the potentially riotous mobs from during the war,” she said wryly.

“Classes?” Izo asked at the same time that Ria exclaimed, “War?”

“I was a teacher for a while remember?’ she asked Izo, who did indeed recall her saying something about being an instructor for ‘new soldiers.’

“You… weren’t at the meeting earlier were you,” it was a statement more than a question but Ria shook her head in response anyway.

“No, that was for Division Commanders only. I’m no Commander. I’m just a nurse, even if I have a Commander as a soulmate I’m not generally included in those,” Ria explained with a self-depreciating shrug.

“There’s no just about being a nurse,” Vi informed her sternly, jumping in before any of the Commanders had a chance, “Fighting and Killing? That’s easy, people are stupidly fragile at times, but putting them back together? That takes time, effort and willpower, maybe it’s not physical strength but it’s a strength all the same.”

“You try telling that to some of these idiots,” Ria told her with a sigh, “Maybe it’ll stop them from complaining about Hana and I behind our backs about being dead weight.”

Izo frowned and glanced over at Jozu who was glowering unhappily, apparently it was the first he was hearing about it. He didn’t like that Ria and if Ria was to be believed Hana as well, had been made to feel unwelcome or burdensome on the Moby.

“Yes I suppose they would,” Violetta replied with a grimace of distaste, “But it isn’t just supporting roles men forget or don’t give due credit. That war I mentioned? I led it, because no one else would, but let me tell you I had men left and right telling me to ‘step aside and let a ‘real man’ lead’ hah! As if I was going to let a blowhard lead people into battle with no care for the lives at stake, as if I wasn’t strong enough to kick their arses blindfolded! No matter how many times I proved I was better, smarter, stronger, there were always people men and women who thought I should let a man lead simply because of what he had between his legs!”

“You’re a fighter then?” Ria asked interestedly even as she nodded along in solidarity, “I do nursing and only nursing outside of the self-defense I was required to learn in case of attack, but Hana can do some fighting, though she’s generally regulated to the back-up group. I think you’d like her, we soulmates have to stick together right? Here I’ll grab her.”

“Oy! Hana! Come sit with us!” Ria called waving down the table. 

Izo watched as the leggy brunette that was Vista’s better half extracted herself from her spot and made her way down as Ria slid over into Jozu’s lap to make room for her.

“Vi this is Hana, Hana this is Vi,” Ria introduced waving between the two of them.

“Nice to meet you,” Violetta greeted politely. Hana nodded in response, not being one who was much for words and slid into the offered seat raising her brow at Ria in question.

“Vi is a fighter like you,” Ria explained, and Hana turned curious eyes on Marco’s soulmate, an interested look on her face.

“What’s your weapon then?” Hana asked quietly, her voice a low throaty rasp that Izo probably would’ve envied if not for the fact that it was only that way because of the scar on her neck, like an demented smile that ran from one side to the other where someone had tried to slit her throat.

“It’s a bit hard to explain, and I don’t think that here is the best place to discuss it,” Violetta told her with a small frown, “But you can ask your respective soulmates for confirmation and details later, I don’t mind if they tell you. I actually thought they would’ve already told you, I never meant to make anyone promise to keep things from their soulmates, though I’d appreciate if you’d keep it to yourselves.”

Hana’s eyebrows were raised in surprised interest, so Violetta continued her voice quiet enough only those closest to them could hear, “I’m from a different world, where there are no Devil Fruits, but magic users who have the abilities of several Devil Fruits combined. I’m one of those magic users.”

“You’re not having us on are you?” Ria asked doubtfully.

“She’s not,” Jozu affirmed in a low rumble, “She demonstrated for all of the Commanders and Oyaji earlier.”

“Seriously? That’s really neat,” Ria told her with a wide smile, “So how strong are you then?”

“In my world I was one of the strongest alive,” Violetta admitted with a shrug, “But that might not mean anything here, it’s hard for me to say because I don’t know a whole lot of what’s possible in this world. I just learned about Devil Fruits today and there may be more I don’t know about. Plus from what I’ve seen fighters in this world seem a lot more focused on physical abilities. You don’t see muscles like these in my world outside professional athletes, and certainly not in the magical communities.”

“Well that’s unfortunate,” Ria said with a grimace, “Some of the muscles are very nice if you catch my meaning.”

Izo smirked in amusement at the eyebrow wiggle Ria was offering, though even Hana had nodded in agreement. He couldn’t bring himself to disagree either considering.

“Oh I know,” Violetta told them with a smirk just as Marco was lifting his glass to take a drink, “Believe me I’ve been admiring the view _all day_.”

Marco choked in surprise at the low seductive tone she’d used, and Izo was a bit surprised too, not at her gumption, but that she admitted it so easily. Both Ria and Hana laughed though, and he was glad to see the three of them getting along so well, it would be good for all of them to have the support of another woman.

“Anyway, back to how strong I am, there’s no doubt in my mind one on one I could take anyone on the ship including the captain,” Violetta claimed casually, causing more than one disbelieving look, “But that’s only if I surprised them and only because despite seeing a preview of my abilities earlier they don’t know a fraction of what I’m capable of.”

And wasn’t that a warning and a half. Still again Izo had to give her points for sheer guts. It wasn’t everyone who could and would make the claim sitting at a table full of the Division Commanders, then again there was a good chance she was actually correct in her assessment, given that they really didn’t know everything about her yet.

“You think you could even win against Marco?” Hana asked interestedly.

“It’s hard to say given his abilities. I’m pretty sure that even the magic that would generally knock a man out for at least twenty-four hours would wear off on him quickly,” Violetta mused glancing at Marco and obviously sizing him up as he raised a brow at her in interest, “I think I’d have to restrain him instead of actually knocking him unconscious to win.”

“If you want me tied up, all you had to do was say so ~yoi,” Marco informed her with a smirk.

All the Commanders within earshot, who were blatantly eavesdropping on the conversation, chuckled, as Violetta’s face tinged pink in surprise and embarrassment. Marco jumped slightly and Izo noted in shock that Violetta had actually pinched him in the side in retaliation. In response Marco grabbed hold of her and dragged her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her.

“Oy!” Violetta protested, though everyone listening could tell it was half-hearted at best, “Will you quit manhandling me? I was trying to eat!”

“You can eat from here,” Marco told her with a smirk, “And I’ll stop manhandling you when you stop pinching me.”

“So never then,” Violetta grumbled, though she relaxed back into his arms, “I swear to Merlin if you drop food on me I will pluck all your tail feathers.”

Marco chuckled and squeezed her lightly before going back to his food, and Izo marveled at the easy interaction between the two. They almost acted as if they’d known each other months instead of a few short hours. This was going well, even better than he’d expected. He traded pleased grins with his soulmate over their heads, who was obviously on the same wavelength as he smiled back.

“Why are you hiding your abilities?” Hana prompted, starting the conversation back up again.

“To keep people from wanting to use my abilities for their own gain,” Violetta answered honestly, boldly stealing some of Marco’s food off his plate.

“Yeah I could see how that would be an issue,” Ria mused quietly, “The marines would love to get their hands on someone with multiple Devil Fruit powers.”

“I’m trying to keep off their radar for as long as possible,” Violetta told her, and Izo breathed a quiet sigh of relief that she hadn’t mentioned that the people she was trying to keep from using her were in the room with them and not actually the marines.

“Well we won’t say anything right Hana?” Ria promised sincerely, and Hana nodded her agreement, though from the look in her eyes she at least had understood the implication that it was actually the Whitebeard pirates who might want to use Violetta. She may not say a whole lot but she was extremely intuitive.

“And you could probably ask Haruta to keep an ear out for you, he specializes in learning what the marines know,” Ria pointed out completely oblivious.

“Haruta? I’m afraid I don’t know who that is,” Violetta told Ria with a frown.

“Haruta’s the one in the lime green tunic,” Ria told her indicating the brother in question down the table, “Don’t worry about not remembering names, it will come with time, there are so many of them it would be impossible to recall all of them right away.”

“I’ll remember that for later,” Violetta promised, “But I’m not sure I was ever told in the first place. I know Marco, of course, and Thatch, Izo, Cas, and Jozu but I only know Jozu because you said he was your soulmate, oh! And I know Haruta now as well too.”

Izo blinked startled, and cast his mind back to the meeting, realizing, that they’d gotten so caught up in the fact that she was Marco’s magical soulmate from another dimension (and that still kind of tripped him up and made him question his sanity just thinking it), that they’d never actually introduced themselves.

“Well you know me, I’m Thatch,” his soulmate began, obviously having the same thoughts as Izo, “And I’m the Fourth Division Commander, Jozu is the Third Division Commander and Ria’s soulmate, the Second Division Commander is Gabe, he’s the purple haired one at the end.”

“Vista is the one with the mustache and tophat, he’s Hana’s soulmate and the Fifth Division Commander, Blamenco is the one wearing the tricorn hat and is Sixth Division, Rakuyo has the blonde dreadlocks and is Seventh, Namur is the one who gave you the map to look at earlier and the Eighth,” Thatch rattled off, pointing to each Commander as he introduced them, who waved or nodded as their name came up, not even pretending to not be listening anymore.

“Blenheim is the one with the gray beard and dark braid and the Ninth, Curiel is the one with the green hat and glasses, the Tenth, Kingdew is the one with the blonde bob and the Eleventh, the Twelfth is Haruta who was pointed out to you already, Thirteenth is Atmos, the one with the horned helmet, Speed Jiru is the Fourteenth and the one with the red cap on, and Fossa the fifteenth is the one with the cigar in his mouth,” Thatch informed her.

“And last but not least is my beautiful Izo who’s my soulmate and the sixteenth Division Commander whom you’ve already met,” he finished making a grand sweeping gesture to Izo, who rolled his eyes, a fond smile on his lips.

“And that’s everyone, questions?” Thatch asked, “Don’t worry too much about remembering, just ask if you need help.”

Violetta nodded, looking a little dazed, either at the number of people or Thatch’s enthusiasm it was hard to tell. Either way it didn’t stay that way for long, as, now that they were acknowledged all the Commanders wanted to speak to her.

Marco was forced to remind her to eat in between speaking as she fielded questions and asked some of her own, but Izo noted she was doing well, holding her own against the onslaught. He himself kept quiet just watching her interact with the others. Things were going really well, and if they were going to continue in this vein he thought maybe the two of them would be just fine.

…~oO*Oo~…

Violetta let out a quiet breath of relief as Marco ushered her back on to the private deck they’d been using to ask and answer each other’s questions earlier. It wasn’t that she’d minded answering questions or speaking to Marco’s crewmembers, but the whole thing had been a bit wearing after a while.

Luckily once they’d finished their food, which took an extraordinarily long time as she answered several questions between each bite, she’d reminded Marco that he’d agreed to show her his phoenix form. He’d taken the hint and escorted her out.

The other Division Commanders had protested, but Marco had pointed out it was getting late, and that some of them had duties they needed to be seeing to. When she’d curiously asked about any duties he might have, he’d smirked and told her they had a soulmate protocol. Apparently this protocol stated that anyone who found their soulmate got the week off to get to know them better, which meant he was all hers.

It was just past twilight, and the moon was bright overhead, which lit the way for her to follow him. Still it was a good thing he was leading or she would’ve tripped over something by now.

“You ready for this ~yoi?” he asked her as they finally made it to the more private deck.

“Of course,” she told him eagerly, she was actually pretty excited, and it must’ve been obvious on her face because he smirked at her. He didn’t tease though, instead turning away and sprinting dead out for the railing of the deck, vaulting up over it towards the ocean below.

Alarmed she dashed toward the railing, hoping he knew what he was doing, only to jerk back in surprise, a gasp leaving her lips as blue fire raced past her. Awed she watched as the blue and gold bird lit up the night sky, its’ feathers made of glowing rippling fire.

He was like nothing she’d ever seen before, certainly nothing like Fawkes, especially in coloring, though something about the plumage, especially the extensive tail feathers, reminded her of him. He was extraordinary, and watching him perform acrobatic maneuvers against the backdrop of slowly appearing stars took her breath away despite knowing he was showing off.

After several long minutes, he banked back towards the deck she was standing on, and she moved out of the way so he could come in for a landing. He didn’t change back as he landed though, the way she’d been expecting. Instead he retained his form and turned towards her. Up close he was a lot bigger than Fawkes, still human sized in the torso, though his wings, which were proudly spread, spanned the entire length of the small deck they were standing on, at least twelve feet across.

Despite being in phoenix form his face was very expressive as he trilled softly at her, in tones that were at once both extremely similar to Fawkes’ and somewhat different. Still she recognized the invitation for what it was. Taking a few steps closer, wary of the flames, she was surprised as she reached a hand out, to not feel any heat at all.

Feeling more confident she stepped right up to him, and still there was no heat. Reaching out a hand she offered it to Marco, unsure whether it was safe to touch or not and trusting him to let her know.

He immediately pressed his face into her hand, and she was surprised to see her fingers actually pass through part of the blue flames before touching the feathers below. Awed, and reminded of the bluebell flames of the wizarding world she gently ran her fingers through his feathers the same way that Fawkes liked. Instantly his eyes closed and a soft churring coo left his beak as she gently preened him, and she could tell he was enjoying it.

“This is amazing,” she told him, fingers carefully exploring every inch of him, “You’re like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

She jerked in surprise as the feathers under her fingers became flesh, his head, legs and torso reverting to human form, though his arms stayed the brightly glowing wings.

“I’m glad you like it ~yoi,” he told her a pleased smirk on his face.

“You can partially transform too?” she asked impressed, “I’ve never seen an Animagi partially transform like this, well I have, but that’s usually an accident or for practice, it’s not something they maintain for long periods of time, and people have gotten stuck like that before.”

“All Zoan types have at least three basic forms, which are the base, human form, full animal form, and the partial transformation. Because my flames aren’t hot, this is the form I generally use for aerial combat, though I sometimes go full animal form just because I fly a lot faster that way,” he explained, “Either way I’m immune to injury unless seastone or Haki are involved and as long as the seastone doesn’t stay in contact with me I still heal right after, same with Haki, even though someone can hit me I still heal right after.”

“What are seastone and Haki?” she asked confused.

“Seastone is said to be a stone manifested with the power of the sea, it’s like the ocean in rock form, and of course because Devil Fruit users are weakened by the sea, we’re also weakened by seastone ~yoi,” he informed her, “It’s also incredibly strong, marines and pirates alike use it as both a means of restraint and a weapon against Devil Fruit users.”

“Haki on the other hand is a little bit more complicated,” he told her with a slight frown, “The basics are that it is a manifestation of willpower, and it comes in three forms. Everyone can access the first two, which are Armament and Observation.”

“Armament allows you to harden your body or your weapons to protect against damage, and fight against Logia Devil fruit users who can turn their entire body into their element to avoid damage, and it looks like this,” he told her. She jerked in surprise as a black sheen covered half of his face for a second before disappearing again, “Though it only protects you if your Haki is stronger than your opponents’.”

“Observation on the other hand allows you to sense things, like where people are located, how strong they are, etcetera. It also lets you predict and react to your opponents moves, though again it only works if your Haki is stronger,” he explained then frowned in concentration and demonstrated, “Right now just standing here I can tell you there are fifteen people on watch, five in the main crow’s nest, though by how they’re arranged it looks like they might be playing cards, and two in each of the other two nests. The others are patrolling the deck, keeping a lookout.”

“So what’s the third one then?” Violetta prompted fascinated.

“The third is called Conqueror’s Haki, and what it is, is essentially exerting your will over another’s, generally it feels like a strong pressure on your body and mind, and if you aren’t strong enough it will knock you completely unconscious,” he explained with a frown, “Though like I said only a few, like one in a million are able to wield it successfully. On the crew it’s only Oyaji who can.”

“I wonder if this Haki of yours is your world’s manifestation of magic,” Violetta mused thoughtfully into the silence that followed that statement.

“What makes you say that ~yoi?” Marco asked curiously.

“Well, when they teach magic to us initially, it’s all about moving your wand in a precise way and saying the incantation correctly,” she began, thinking the words over as she said them, turning them over in her mind, “However as you get more and more advanced you lose the need to say the words, and if you’re strong enough you can learn to do it without the wand too.”

“Part of that I think is concentration, the words and wand movements give the caster something to focus their will on, creating a specific desire for a specific response,” she continued slowly, “But once you grow older and get used to magic you get used to bending it to your will, some of the spells I know require specific feelings like joyful memories to cast, and some require a strong will to fight off, but all of them require desire. You have to desire it to happen, and isn’t desire just another word for will?”

“I don’t know, it sounds fascinating, but I don’t know enough about magic to say for sure,” he told her, allowing his wings, which had been resting at his sides, to shift back into arms and crossing them across his chest, plunging them into darkness, lit only by the few lamps hanging around the ship.

“But you would think that if one was the equivalent of the other, you wouldn’t have Haki you would only have magic, or if you did have Haki I would sense it as your magic,” Marco reasoned a thoughtful look on his face, “But I can sense your Haki level and it isn’t actually very strong, it’s on the lower scale of the people on the ship and while that is generally considered impressive as we are one of the strongest crews in the world, it isn’t what I would expect from someone who was as strong magically as you indicated you were.”

“I have Haki?” she asked surprised.

“You do, or at least you register to my senses as having it ~yoi,” he told her with an amused smile.

“Then I wonder…” she trailed off her hands toying with the holster on her forearm.

“Back in the world I came from, everyone uses a wand, but we aren’t allowed to receive our own until we’re eleven years old and heading to school for the first time,” she explained slowly, wondering if this might be a bad idea but determined to try anyway.

“The process of getting a wand can be a little complicated, the man I got mine from kept saying ‘the wand chooses the wizard’ but that’s not true, or not entirely true I should say,” she continued, flicking her Holly and phoenix feather wand out of the holster and lightly twirling it in her fingers.

“A wand does have some sentience, though only the tiniest bit, and its not necessarily its own sentience but sentience left over from the creature who donated the core of the wand. In general wands have two components, the wood and the core, the three most commonly accepted cores are unicorn hair, dragon heartstrings and phoenix feathers.”

“Because all three are extremely magical in and of themselves they leave a bit of an imprint of their own magic on every piece of them, including the aforementioned parts, it’s this imprint that gives the wand ‘sentience’ and personality.”

“The magic that creates the ‘sentience’ is what ‘chooses’ the wizard in that the magic has to resonate with the witch or wizard’s magical core in order to work properly, otherwise the results can be anything from refusal to complete spells to backfiring on the spell caster.”

“The reason most believe a wand has ‘sentience’ isn’t because of this, but actually because of wand allegiances. Sometimes, if you win a duel against another witch or wizard and take their wand, you can then use their wand nearly as well as the other original owner. I say ‘nearly’ because no wand will ever work as well for a witch or wizard as one matched to their core.”

“They call this the wand ‘switching allegiances’ which is a bit of a misnomer because if the original owner can get the wand back it will continue to work just as well for them as it did before, regardless of the method they use to retrieve it.”

“However I’ve found that this isn’t always true, it actually depends on the core of the wand as to whether it will work or not. Dragon heartstrings are actually the most common wand core, therefore it makes sense that most people believe the lore about ‘switching allegiances’ because the wands with those type of core do behave in exactly that way. Fitting considering actual dragons follow the ‘strongest rules over all’ pack mentality.”

“Unicorn tail hairs the second most common core, on the other hand tend to not work for the new owner or only work to a degree, like if you were trying to shoot a spout of water you might only get a trickle, which makes sense considering unicorns are more timid and don’t much care for strangers, but can be forced into things if they can’t escape.”

“Finally phoenix feather wands, which are extremely rare because phoenixes have to voluntarily donate their feathers, are a different kettle of fish altogether. If someone takes a phoenix feather wand from its owner it tends to get really nasty in return, doing things like burning fingers or making spells explode, they can get really foul to anyone who isn’t their owner or unapproved by their owner.”

“However in general it’s considered extremely strange and intimate to let someone else use your wand, because of how they’re in tune with the wielder’s magical core, so approved other users don’t happen very often.”

“The reason I’m telling you all this,” she said cautiously, pleased to see that he’d been listening and watching her with interest the entire time she spoke, “Is because without accidental magic, which happens to magical children, it’s impossible to tell whether or not someone has magic or not unless they’re doing spells.”

“You said I have Haki so I was wondering if maybe…?” the implication was clear and she saw his eyes go wide with understanding and interest, as she twirled her wand in her hand and offered it to him, handle first.

“My wand is holly and phoenix feather,” she explained, “Fawkes’ feather actually, and because he seems to like and approve of you and because I’m handing it to you willingly it shouldn’t backfire, but I figured I should warn you just in case.”

Marco nodded and accepted the wand from her hands, lightly running his fingers along the smooth wood before gripping the handle and turning to her, “What exactly do you want me to do?”

“There’s a spell, that everyone learns as their first piece of magic as it’s extraordinarily easy and requires very little power, it calls light, and the incantation is ‘lumos’ generally all you have to do is hold the wand, will the magic and say the word,” she offered with a smile.

Marco nodded and glanced at the wand, she could feel anticipation building in her as she watched him eagerly. She had a gut feeling about this and she thought maybe…

“Lumos,” Marco said quietly, and it took a second, a very long second in which she was holding her breath, but the tip of the wand lit with a soft golden light, illuminating his face. She let out a surprised, delighted laugh, at the shock and wonder on his face as he held the wand carefully in his fingers an awed look on his face.

“Well what do you know, you’re magical,” she teased holding out her hand and accepting the wand back as the light from it dimmed.

“That was amazing ~yoi,” he told her seriously.

“It is isn’t it?” she asked with a fond smile.

“I was thinking,” she said after a long minute of silence, “That I’d like to learn this Haki of yours, would you teach me, if I taught you some magic in exchange?”

Marco looked at her surprised then thoughtful, “I would’ve taught you Haki either way, despite your magic its nearly a necessity in this part of the world, and I wouldn’t want you to not have it, especially since everyone past a certain level is required to know it. All the Division Commanders and their soulmates are required because of the level of danger they’re in, whether the soulmates sail with us or not, but I wouldn’t mind learning some magic in exchange.”

“There are some soulmates who don’t sail with you?” she asked curiously.

“Yes ~yoi,” he answered finally though he sounded a touch reluctant to her ears, “We have an island, in the middle or our territory, the territory the Whitebeard Pirates own and protect, that houses former crewmembers who’ve decided to settle down, and the soulmates who don’t want to travel with us.”

“After we stock up on supplies, it’s where we’ll be headed,” he admitted, “We were due a visit there anyway, and we always head there when someone finds their soulmate just in case.”

She could hear the rest of that sentence clearly in her mind, ‘just in case they don’t want to stay, just in case you don’t want to stay.’ She nodded slowly in understanding, “It’s nice to know that, that’s an option I suppose.”

“It’s a nice island, temperate and calm, most of them like it a lot,” he told her his voice level and not giving anything away.

“I’ll take that under consideration, but for now it’s getting kind of late, as amazing as today has been, as amazing as meeting you has been, it’s been a long day. Is there somewhere I’m supposed to go to freshen up and bed down for the night?”

…~oO*Oo~…

Marco quickly tamped down on the emotions that had accompanied her declaring the island an option for herself, because it hadn’t even been a full twenty-four hours yet, of course she was still considering not staying here, with him. The thought stung more than he thought it should be allowed to considering he’d only known her for a short time.

He didn’t want her to go, he wanted her to stay full time with him on the ship, the same way Hana and Ria did. However given her past, and how afraid she was about being used he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He didn’t want her to feel obligated to stay, and he’d already promised her he would support her no matter what she decided to do. That being said, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t try his damndest to sway her over to his way of thinking, 

“There’s probably some space in the First Division’s quarters for you, you’d have to share the room of course but that’s one option ~yoi,” he told her slowly.

“Is there another one?” she asked with a grimace of distaste, “I don’t think I could sleep surrounded by strangers, and I have some pretty nasty instincts if I get woken unexpectedly.”

“The only other option would be to share my quarters with me,” he offered and seeing the look on her face hastened to explain, “I’m not expecting anything from you, it’s a bit too soon for that I think, but there is only one bed and I’d prefer to share.”

“I have nightmares sometimes,” she informed him bluntly, “And I will attack people if I’m woken up, just because you’re my soulmate doesn’t mean you’d be automatically exempt from that.”

Marco nodded thoughtfully, knowing what little he did of her shitty past it didn’t surprise him a bit that she had nightmares and survival instincts not conducive to sharing a bed still, “I’m not too worried. Even if you attack, I’ll heal ~yoi.”

“You did say that earlier, that you healed, but how does that even work? Fawkes’ tears have healing powers, but I don’t picture you as much of a crier,” she said skeptically.

“His tears heal other people?” Marco asked surprised.

“They do,” she confirmed with a shrug, “Though I think they might be limited in what exactly they can do. I take it though, that, that means crying isn’t what you do.”

“No, it’s my flames that heal me~yoi,” Marco explained baffled at the idea of healing tears of all things, “That’s all they do really, absorb attacks and heal my injuries, they have no offensive power.”

“Your flames?” she asked interestedly, and he nodded in confirmation.

“Here, watch,” pulling a dagger from his pocket he sliced deeply across his palm, letting the blood spill for a second before willing the flames to life, watching as they danced over his skin, sealing the wound closed.

He was surprised as Violetta immediately grabbed hold of his hand turning it over in her smaller ones, inspecting it thoroughly before turning angry green eyes on him, “Why the hell did you just do that?”

“I thought you wanted to see the flames ~yoi,” he offered completely baffled at her angry reaction.

“So you decided to cut open your hand?” she demanded appalled.

“It healed,” he replied not quite seeing where she was going with this offering her a shrug and a puzzled look.

“Did it hurt?” she asked still looking upset.

“Only for a second,” he promised with a frown.

“But it still hurt, you still felt it?” she repeated, and understanding began to dawn on him.

“It’s alright you know. I’m used to pain,” he assured her, though that didn’t seem to be the answer she was looking for as her face crumpled slightly in sadness.

“Marco, just because you’re used to it doesn’t mean you should willingly suffer through it even if it’s only a second, not over something so trivial,” she told him seriously, “And even though you might heal from it, that doesn’t mean I want to hurt you if my nightmares get out of hand.”

He nodded slowly, seeing her point, touched by her concern for him, it wasn’t something most people, including himself would ever think about or consider with his abilities, if he still felt pain, and he found it endearing that she had.

“I’m not worried about being hurt by you,” he told her gently, taking hold of her hands with both of his, “Having you close to me is worth whatever risk. Maybe it’s too soon, or too much, but I’d like to hold you as I sleep ~yoi.”

She looked startled, staring up at him with those big green eyes of hers before finally giving him a nod of agreement, “Alright, alright I’ll stay with you. You’re right it does seem fast, but I wasn’t exaggerating earlier when I said you make me feel safe, more than that being with you feels right, and I don’t know if it’s instinct, or strange soulmate magic, but…”

He nodded in understanding as she trailed off helplessly. He felt it too, the strange pull to be close to her, to have his hands on her, or at least his eyes on her at all times. Eventually it was something he’d have to let go of, if just a little or they’d drive each other crazy but for now it was good, it was right.

Standing there, holding her hands and staring into those fathomless eyes of hers, he was struck, not for the first time with the urge to kiss her. Luckily he tamped down on the desire quickly, because even with the strange pull it was too soon, he would have to take this carefully if he wanted to win her over, to convince her to stay, though it was hard to even think of moving slowly with the looming threat of her staying on the Soulmate Island in the near future.

Still his more reasonable mind won out and instead of kissing her said, “Alright, let’s see about getting you settled for the night.”

She nodded and allowed him to lead her by the hand back to his cabin. It was a decent sized room, and because he was a Division Commander, actually had its own attached bathroom, which she quickly slipped away into shutting the door behind herself.

He was just glad he was relatively tidy by nature otherwise this could’ve been embarrassing. After all how was he supposed to know when he left the room a few days ago that he’d be returning with his soulmate in tow? He took the few moments she was in the bathroom to tidy up a few things that were laying around, and then turned to the bed and frowned.

The sheets were clean, having been changed recently, the problem was what he was going to wear since she would be sleeping in the bed with him. Normally he slept without anything on at all, but he knew she wasn’t nearly ready for that kind of thing yet.

In the end he simply stripped out of his shirt, sash, belt and shoes, leaving his loose pants on. They were comfortable enough that they probably wouldn’t bother him too much.

The sound of the bathroom door opening again had him glancing up, and he was surprised to see that she’d somehow changed into a tank top and shorts, and her hair had been freed from its remaining pins, and then braided to the side. She looked sweet, and soft and extremely appealing but something was bugging him.

“Where were you keeping those clothes?” he asked curiously, “And where did you put what you had on.”

With a smirk she pulled out the necklace she’d showed him earlier that had her broom on it, and indicated another one of the trinkets attached, a small trunk, that like the broom had probably been shrunk down for convenience sake. He was glad she hadn’t come to this world and lost all her things, though that she carried them around on her person spoke to volumes of paranoia he hadn’t really comprehended up until now.

However it was too late at night to think about those sorts of things, and he suddenly realized he was exhausted. He hadn’t actually slept in days, not since Fawkes had left.

Sitting on the bed he shifted so he could lay down, leaving her the space on the outer edge, so she wouldn’t feel trapped between him and the wall, holding the covers up in invitation. Cautiously she settled down on to it, giving him a slightly nervous look before settling in, allowing herself to lay back as he dropped the covers over her, placing her head on one of the pillows.

She stiffened for a minute as Marco leaned over her to blow out the lamp that he’d lit when they’d entered for them to see by, but relaxed as he settled back and away from her again. The bed was actually big enough that they could sleep without touching, and so he lay back, closing his eyes as he tried to drift off to sleep.

Unfortunately his mind didn’t seem to want to shut off, buzzing around everything that had happened today, and constantly reminding him that his soulmate, _his soulmate_ was there, in the bed with him, and actually laying within arms reach. It was a lot to take in, considering just that morning he’d thought they’d never meet, combined with all the extra things she brought along with being his soulmate and it was little wonder he couldn’t bring himself to sleep despite being exhausted.

Honestly the whole day felt a bit like a dream, and despite the childishness of it, he was maybe a little afraid to fall asleep, lest he wake and find she’d disappeared. He knew it was ridiculous, but the situation was so surreal he couldn’t seem to stop himself.

After several long moments of trying to fall asleep and failing muffled cursing reached his ears, and he shifted, glancing over at his bedmate. She was laying on her side with her back to him and her shoulders were hunched around her ears.

“Are you alright ~yoi?” he asked carefully, watching as her back stiffened in surprise.

“I’m fine,” she informed him, then sighed, “I just… could you just… hold me?”

He was taken aback by the softly spoken request but more than willing. Shifting himself around he reached out, and carefully eased her compliant body backwards until she was rested in the curve of his body, one arm slung around her small waist and the other pillowed under her head. She was warm and soft and perfect in his arms as she settled in close.

“Thank you,” she whispered quietly, “I don’t know why, but being like this with you, makes me feel safe.”

“My pleasure,” he told her, gently squeezing her, “Really, anytime ~yoi.”

She hummed softly in acknowledgment and went quiet. Strangely with her in his arms his thoughts went quiet too, and he could feel nothing but contentment as he drifted to sleep surprisingly quickly, knowing she’d be there again in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this monster is the reason I didn't get around to updating things last week, it literally grabbed my muse in a strangle hold and refused to let go. It's also one of the over a hundred and fifty soulmate ideas my sister and I had for the One Piece World. I hope you liked it! There will be more!
> 
> Also, again not sure if I'll take requests, but feel free to drop me a line, either here or on Tumblr, where I use my same username EvenescentTranquility. I'd love to answer any comments, questions, or just be friends.
> 
> Also if you haven't read Tsume_Yuki's stuff please do! It's amazing and if you liked this (well it inspired this right?) <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second part! Only five more to go :D

Violetta woke feeling strangely well rested, and it took her a moment to remember where she was. Soulmate, Marco, phoenix, Whitebeard, pirates, new dimension, it all came crashing through at once, and she had to take a minute to remind herself to breathe lest it overwhelm her.

Taking deep even breaths she took a moment to sink into meditation. After Sirius had died due to her foolishness she’d finally buckled down on Occlumency practice, taking it seriously. It helped that she couldn’t be more motivated than she was to learn between her guilt over Sirius’ death and the nightmare visions Voldemort liked to send to her over their link.

After the war finished she’d kept up the practice, noting that it helped keep her emotionally on a more even keel. She wasn’t nearly as likely to lash out or lose control if she practiced Occlumency daily. It also helped her focus her magic better, and had been a key part in learning nonverbal and then wandless aspects of her magic.

Breathing deeply, not bothering to move from her place held close in Marco’s arms she allowed herself to sort through the memories of yesterday, and lock them down tight behind her barriers, to protect them from anyone looking to dig through her thoughts. She didn’t think Haki or Devil’s Fruits would let anyone read her mind, and she wasn’t even sure if Occlumency would help if they did, but there was a small chance it would keep her thoughts safe, so she dubbed it worth doing.

Surfacing from her meditation she found her bedmate was awake, and lightly stroking his hand up and down her back, from where she was sprawled on his muscled chest in a soothing motion. She sighed and nuzzled her face into his chest. 

Her Occlumency had brought to light how strange it was that Marco always seemed to be touching her in some way or another, and while that probably should’ve unnerved her considering how she generally shied away from touching others in general thanks to the Dursleys it didn’t. 

In fact her meditation had forced her to acknowledge that she enjoyed Marco’s touches. She liked knowing he was close, and that he felt no disgust or fear when it came to being close to her. That combined with the fact that he didn’t seem to be pushing for anything sexual, and the fact that he was her soulmate and such feelings were probably natural, meant she’d decided to just accept his habit for what it was, and allow herself to enjoy it.

Unfortunately she knew sometime soon she’d probably be in desperate need of the bathroom or food, so she wouldn’t be able to stay like this all day the way she would’ve liked to. Instead she pushed herself up off his chest, hovering above him for a second peering down at him, drinking in his features and reassuring herself that yesterday hadn’t been an elaborate dream or some kind of terrible trick.

He peered up at her with those intense teal eyes, and she absently ran her free hand up his chest and neck, fingers tracing the stubble on his cheeks, which had become even darker overnight. His blond hair, which had defied gravity before, was even more tousled after a night’s rest, and she noted with amusement the two of them were probably equals in terms of terrible bedhead, or at least they were when hers was contained in a braid. She had no doubts hers would’ve been much worse than his if it had been allowed free reign while she slept.

“Good morning ~yoi,” he told her quietly, the throaty rasp of his voice even more pronounced when it was rough with sleep.

“Good morning,” she greeted lightly still hovering above him, not wanting to move off him just yet, “Did you sleep well?”

“I did, very well,” he assured her with a soft smile, his hands, which had fallen to his sides when she’d pushed herself up coming up to rest on her hips, a firm, warm weight there, “you?”

“Mmm,” she confirmed answering his smile with her own contented, “Better than I have in a long time.”

This close she could see the way his eyes lit with pleasure as one of his hands slowly caressed up and down her right side, “Good, I’m glad. You hungry?”

“Not yet,” she told him, then sighed reluctantly, “I do have to use your loo though.”

“Loo?” he repeated a puzzled frown on his face.

“Ah, lavatory?” she tried again surprised, but seeing his confusion hadn’t abated added, “The toilet?”

“The bathroom?” he confirmed his eyes lighting in understanding.

“Yes that,” she told him though she was slightly unnerved, “I suppose I should’ve expected that, the colloquialisms are a bit different here I think.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Marco assured her gently squeezing her hips before releasing her to clamber off the bed, “Every island we go to has different terms for things, their own local slang. If I say something you don’t understand just ask, and I’ll explain. I’m just glad we speak the same language at all, it sounds like you have more than one in your world, so we’re probably lucky.”

“You’re right, there are over a thousand different languages in my world,” she noted awed, “I hadn’t even thought of what might’ve happened if you didn’t speak mine.”

“Considering this world only has a few languages, and one major one spoken by pretty much everyone, it certainly could’ve made things interesting,” Marco told her wryly.

“You mean difficult,” she countered with a frown, “Hard enough to land in a different dimension with different technologies, to not even be able to communicate would not have been fun at all.”

“I suppose we’ll just count our blessings ~yoi,” he told her with a relaxed shrug, rolling on his side so he could watch her, “No use worrying about things that didn’t happen.”

“You’re right of course,” she told him with a sigh before offering him a shy smile, “I’ll be right back.”

He nodded, and she slipped into the bathroom, taking a moment to relieve herself, and freshen up, brushing her teeth, and slipping on a sports bra, tank and shorts from her bag before leaving the bathroom to face her soulmate.

He was sitting up on the bed, and she was once more struck with how appealing he was, her eyes wandering over the unblemished tanned skin, that rippled with muscle as he moved, taking in the broad shoulders, and arms just as nicely sculpted as she’d guessed by the feel of them yesterday.

“Enjoying the view ~yoi?” he asked forcing her to refocus her startled gaze on his face, which was wearing a satisfied smirk, that she noted was unfairly attractive.

“As a matter of fact I am,” she informed him deciding to go for frank, and was rewarded with the flash of surprise in his eyes, “You’re an attractive man, and my soulmate, I think I’m allowed to ogle a bit don’t you?”

“Feel free to ogle away ~yoi,” he told her with an amused chuckle that sent a rush or warmth through her, “I certainly don’t mind.”

“I will,” she told him pertly, before getting down to business, “What’s the plan for today anyway?”

“Well I for one need a shower,” he told her slowly standing and stretching slightly. She knew he was doing it on purpose now, showing off the play of muscles in his torso and arms as he flexed, honestly she didn’t mind a bit, “And then probably breakfast. From what I understand we’ve set a course for the nearest island to resupply, but we won’t be there until tomorrow. That means we’ll be sailing all day. I don’t have much of a plan for the day as a whole, I figured we’d just spend it together, maybe get some more questions in, and see how things go with the other members of the crew.”

“That’s fine,” she affirmed, “I think I’m going to go on a run while you shower. It’s part of my daily routine to get some exercise before breakfast, but since I don’t know the area too well I’ll try to be back quickly.”

“Alright,” he affirmed though he was frowning slightly, “Just be careful, no one here would attack you or anything, but the Grand Line is a dangerous place, and the ship is enormous. If you get lost or have trouble ask for help ~yoi.”

“I will,” she assured him, normally she balked at being given something that close to an order, but she understood why he was worried, this was a whole new world to her after all, who knew what kind of things were out there.

Offering him one last quick wave she let herself out of the room and into the hall. Careful to try to memorize her route she slowly began to plod along, figuring she’d pick up the pace when she knew where she was going.

…~oO*Oo~…

Jiru began another lap around the deck of the Moby, relishing in the quiet of the early morning. Not many of his brothers were morning people, and those who were respected the tranquility of the time of day enough to not make too much noise.

Frankly it was the one time of day the Moby was as still as it was, as everyone knew the Commanders who were early risers were happy enough to cover the morning watch, and because they were Commanders, only a few of them were needed. Thus most of his brothers were actually sleeping, and woe betide anyone who actually woke them at this hour.

The Marines had noticed long ago that far from catching them off guard, attacking in the morning seemed to only make the Whitebeard pirates that much more vicious, especially if the majority of them were hung over from a party the night before.

Jiru took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of salt in the air, and the dew that gathered on the rigging and rails of the Moby. Fighting a smirk as he passed by the incredibly sleepy, though awake Vista. Normally it was him, Izo, Fossa, Rakuyo, Blamenco, Namur and Marco awake to take watch at this hour, but last night they’d assured Marco he didn’t need to worry about it, that someone else would take his place.

Vista had valiantly offered his services, though he seemed to be regretting it now. Luckily for him the others had agreed to take turns. Jiru got the feeling they were in for some very grumpy Commanders for a while. He almost hoped the Marines, or some rookie pirates would attack, if only to give them a target for their ire.

Coming around a turn he was surprised to see an unfamiliar figure jogging carefully along the railing. Cautiously moving up on her, he was shocked to see Marco’s soulmate, wearing what appeared to be training clothing, running steadily across the deck until she reached the end, where she swiftly, and rather impressively for someone he didn’t think had ever been on a ship, shimmied her way up the ropes to the higher deck, and continued on her jog.

“Good morrow!” he called, curiosity urging him to speak up. He winced as she nearly tripped over her own feet in surprise, losing her rhythm and stumbling around to look at him.

“Oh! Oh good morning! I’m sorry you startled me,” she told him, and he noted the piece of wood she’d used to perform her magic yesterday was clenched tightly in her hand. If nothing else, she had very good reflexes, he hadn’t even seen her move to grab it. He offered his hands raised, to show he wasn’t armed, hoping to soothe her.

“It is I who should be apologizing. My deepest apologies for startling you Lady Violetta,” he told her with a bow.

“That’s alright, no harm done,” she told him, though her eyes were wary, and her posture stiff, “You can call me Vi you know, no need for any ‘lady’”

“It is my policy to address all of the fairer sex with the title Lady,” Jiru told her and was surprised to see her relax a bit, “And I felt Lady Violetta more appropriate than Lady Vi, though if Lady Vi is what you prefer than of course I will abide by the Lady’s wishes.”

“If you would please,” she told him and he nodded.

“What brings you out on such a fair morning?” the ‘and without Marco’ was clearly implied.

“I always jog in the mornings, it’s routine for me,” she told him rather stiffly, “And I figured I’d go while Marco was in the shower.”

“Did you disclose to him where you were going?” Jiru asked worriedly, and was surprised to see her green eyes flash angrily in the morning sun, a strange hum, vibrating in the air around her that he immediately recognized as a warning sign.

“Marco is my soulmate, _not_ my _babysitter_ ,” she informed him tightly, “But yes I did let him know where I was going.”

“My apologies again,” he offered hastily, realizing that hadn’t come out well, implying that she needed to ask permission before venturing away from her soulmate was exactly the wrong impression to give to a woman who had admitted only yesterday she would rather die than lose her freedom.

“I phrased that poorly. I was only concerned for my brother’s mental wellbeing. Marco is a worrier, he would fret if you disappeared without letting him know, especially so soon into discovering your soulbond,” he elaborated.

She nodded slowly, accepting his explanation, the dangerous thrum that reminded him of a swarm of hovering bees thickening the air, disappeared and he let out a breath of relief. He was surprised to see a flash of contrition on her face as she studied him.

“Now I’m the one who needs to apologize, that was a bit of an overreaction on my part, I’m sorry,” she told him then smiled wryly, “Seems like we’re apologizing to each other a lot this morning.”

“This is true, but I am more than happy to let bygones be bygones,” Jiru told her politely, “And as for your morning run, might I accompany you? I was just completing some rounds myself, and would be appreciative of company.”

“I’ll probably slow you down,” she warned with a frown, “In my world I’m more physically fit than most, but judging from the muscles I’ve seen in this world that might not mean much.”

“Tis no matter, for I expected as much,” he admitted, then explained, “I am much speedier than most of my compatriots as it is. I have actually completed most of my rounds and need but a few minutes longer to finish. It is your company that interests me this fine morning, as I wish to begin learning of my brother’s soulmate.”

“Alright, if you’re sure,” she told him with a hesitant smile.

“Most certain Lady Vi,” he informed her with a polite bow hopping up to where she was, noting the tiniest of shifts in her face at the form of address.

“Lady Vi, may I enquire why the title bothers you so?” Jiru asked curiously as the two of them set off.

“You noticed that huh?” she noted wryly, huffing a sigh, “I suppose it’s not that big a deal, or a certainly hope it wouldn’t be. You remember how I mentioned the war yesterday?”

He nodded. All of the Commanders were pretty curious about the war she claimed to have fought in, especially since she’d told Ria and Hana last night that she’d led a big part of it herself. However they knew better than to pry too much, wounds like the ones Iris spotted did not take kindly to being prodded.

“There were two sides of the war, and the main issue of contention was what they call ‘Blood Status’,” she explained, keeping her breaths deep and even as she ran, “What you have to understand, is that not everyone in my world had magic and the community of Magicals had hidden themselves away from those without it to keep from being persecuted.”

“There is a lot of history there, but suffice to say once Magicals and Nonmagicals interacted freely, each knowing about the other, but then Nonmagicals began to fear Magicals, and to persecute them. Unfortunately for the Nonmagicals, most adult Magicals were easily able to escape their traps most of those who died were actually Nonmagicals without a spark of magic in them who either had nothing at all to do with Magicals or were the soulmates of them, Squibs, which is a term for a child that is born to Magical parents that doesn’t actually possess magic of their own, and children, which is what prompted them to change.”

“To escape the persecution, Magicals separated and then hid their communities, wiping the memories of the Nonmagical human population to make them forget they ever existed, this was hundreds of years ago mind, and ever since Magicals kept themselves separate to the best of their abilities.”

“However they were unable to make a clean break entirely for two simple reasons. First, and most obvious are soulbonds, we can’t help who we’re soulbonded and so it was inevitable there would be some mixing between the two groups. Second Magicals had been soulbonded with Nonmagicals pretty much for all of recorded history as we know it, which meant that even Nonmagicals had small sparks of magic in them, so sometimes when two Nonmagicals had a child the child would then be magical themselves.”

“However with the dangers of the Magicals hunts resentment soon grew between those who had Magical soulmates and who were born to Magical parents for those who did not and were not. I’m not exactly sure how it began, but a movement started where it was proposed that those with Magical soulmates and born to the hidden Magical community were somehow greater than those who weren’t.”

“Prejudice arose. You’d think that soulbonds would have eventually stamped something ridiculous like that out though, and unfortunately you’d be wrong. A former friend of mine who’d been discriminated against for her Nonmagical parents hypothesized that those with deep rooted prejudice actually had that prejudice so deeply written into their souls that it was then inevitable they be matched with someone who shared their prejudice.”

“Honestly she’s probably right, much as I hate to admit it, she was always extremely clever. This of course meant that the prejudice couldn’t be stamped out, and it continued to fester and grow, which is where the idea of blood purity arose.”

“Blood purity has three types, the first is Muggleborn, or if you want to use the slur Mudblood, which are those born to Nonmagical parents or Squibs, the second term Pureblood, which is a person who has all magical grandparents. The last is Half-Blood and it actually has three subtypes those born to a Nonmagical parent and a Magical parent, those born to two Muggleborn parents, and those born to one fully Magical parent called a Pureblood, and one Muggleborn parent.”

“Before the separation of Magicals and Nonmagicals, Magicals made extremely good money and tended to hold positions of power, like nobility, the titles carried over when they hid themselves away. Eventually those with soulbonded Nonmagicals tended to lose interest in having the titles, and the wealth tended to be dispersed and sometimes even lost in the Nonmagical community, while the prejudiced purebloods clung to tradition and all things magical, refusing to interact with the Nonmagical world at all, which left Purebloods as the ones with the most money and political power in the Magical World.”

“This of course only made the situation worse, and resentment grew between purebloods and other Magicals, which is what led to the war, well several wars actually but the war I was talking about. It was headed by the madman who tried to kill me as an infant. He believed that all Nonmagicals, and Muggleborns should either be killed or enslaved.”

“His ideal world, as I understood it, was Nonmagicals dead, with Muggleborns used as breeding stock only when Soulbonds necessitated it. Those Magicals who soulbonded with Nonmagicals would be either killed or not allowed to have children with them, and encouraged to have children with another Magical in their same circumstance instead.”

“Disgusting right?” she asked apparently seeing the distaste on his face for such a thing.

Honestly he was fascinated by her story and her explanations. Her background as a teacher was very obvious in the way she explained things to him. Her tone took on what he would call a ‘story-teller’s’ cadence, and her speech patterns became more formal. It was extremely interesting.

“Unfortunately a lot of Magicals, the Purebloods of course and even a lot of the Half-bloods agreed with this ideology, and if he’d gone about it carefully and politically he probably would’ve gotten his way and set us at war with the Nonmagicals.”

“However he was quite mad, and a sociopathic, psychopathic, sadist, though he didn’t seem to come across that way at first. He instead tried to implement his ideas by way of murder, torture, and bloodbaths. Honestly he killed almost as many purebloods and half-bloods as he did Muggleborn or Nonmagicals.”

“Because of his tactics, Muggleborns, Half-Bloods, and Purebloods alike, who felt either his methods or his ideology was wrong rose against him, which is what the war was, stopping him and the followers he managed to amass with his silver tongue, which is where we come to your original query.”

“Ironically, my father was a ‘pureblood’ but one like me who didn’t care a bit for blood status, there pureblood status was simply luck of the draw as it were up until him anyway. My mother was a muggleborn. However I am my father’s only child, and the Potter family was titled, a Barony, and when he died, as the last of the line and only heir the title fell to me. In addition my godfather was also from a pureblood line and named me his sole heir. When he died that title also fell to me.”

“Thus technically my full name as it stands is Lady Violetta Janine Potter-Black Baroness of Whitmore and Viscountess of Blackmoor. I am by all rights a Lady, a title given to me by two people who loved me very much, yet at the same time it represents something I was directly opposed to, because unlike most of the magical community I believed and still believe that all sentient creatures are created equal. It’s why the title makes me uncomfortable,” she explained with a shrug and a sad smile.

In some ways her story reminded him of the Tennryubito who had also secluded themselves away, who looked down everyone on and freely enslaved anyone they desired. Rumor had it they didn’t even have soulmarks anymore, viewing themselves as ‘above such barbaric practice’. If the ‘purebloods’ of her world were anything like them no wonder she didn’t want to be called ‘Lady’.

He was glad he had asked though, he’d learned a lot about her, and he approved of the way she’d taken a stand against the bigots of her world, even if she’d admitted that in the end she’d only finished the war out for her former friends’ sake. 

“I could endeavor to call you something else if it bothers you La, erm Miss?” he offered.

“I wouldn’t want to put you out,” she told him.

“And I wouldn’t want to make my brother’s soulmate uncomfortable speaking to me,” he countered firmly, “It is no trouble to me to do this small thing for you.”

“I… thank you,” she told him with a genuine smile, “That’s very kind of you.”

“Tis the least I could do,” Jiru informed her solemnly, “We, that is the other Commanders, Oyaji and myself, do want you to feel welcomed, and I fear we didn’t give the best of impressions in that first meeting yesterday.”

“It’s alright,” she assured him with a faint weary smile, “Honestly it was probably to be expected.”

“It is _not_ alright,” Jiru informed her coming to a stop and thus forcing her to a stop as well lest she leave him behind, “Oyaji and Marco were very much in the right to scold us on our thoughts. We are a family and we treat each other as such! You deserve to be treated as such, and I will endeavor to do my best to do so!”

He could see she was taken aback by his words, eyes wide with surprise and confusion, and it twisted his gut horribly to see such incomprehension on her face.

“I don’t think anyone’s ever said anything like that to me before,” she told him quietly, “Thank you.”

The smile on her face was tiny but sincere if fragile, and in that moment he promised he would do everything he could to see that the Whitebeard Pirates became the family this woman deserved, one way or another.

The rest of their jog passed in comfortable silence, the two of them much more at ease in the other’s company than they had been at the start of their run. Eventually she appeared to not want to continue, and slowed to a stop, glancing around a frown on her face.

“If it pleases you Miss Vi, I would be happy to escort you back to Marco,” Jiru offered taking a guess at the cause of her distress.

“That would be wonderful, thank you,” she told him, following on his heels as he led the way through the corridors of the ship.

“There is no shame at getting lost, many of us, even the Division Commanders struggled to learn the layout of our vessel at first. The Moby is a grand ship, but she is also a confusing one for newcomers,” he consoled her.

“I’m starting to see that,” she admitted wryly, “Reminds me of the school I went to actually, secret passages, and trick staircases everywhere.”

“That does sound familiar, and a fair warning, many of our brothers have a penchant for pranks, so hallways may at times be booby trapped,” he warned.

“Pranks huh?” she asked with an amused quirk of her lips, “I guess that will certainly make life interesting.”

“Indeed,” Jiru confirmed with a nod, “And this is our stop.”

“Alright, thanks again,” she told him with a smile, her hand on the doorknob.

“Ah, Miss Vi I would beg a favor,” Jiru asked hastily, and at her raised brow continued, “I would like to speak of what you have confided in me this morning to my brothers, so that we may all better understand you, but I will not if you wish for the discussion to remain private.”

“I don’t mind you telling others about it, though considering the magic involved probably best to keep it to your Oyaji, the Division Commanders and their Soulmates if you don’t mind,” she told him looking startled that he’d even bothered to ask.

“Of course,” he assured her firmly, pleased by her permission, knowing this would help allow all of them to know her a bit better.

“Well alright then, see you later?” she asked hand on the door still.

“Until we meet again Miss Vi,” he confirmed with a short bow, watching to make sure she entered the room before setting off to finish his laps, wondering which of his brothers was most likely to ambush him first.

He nearly chuckled in amusement as he saw Vista and Izo waiting for him at the top of the stairs. Honestly he should’ve known, however if they wanted the information, they’d have to work for it, he still hadn’t finished his daily exercise after all, and he likely wouldn’t be able to discuss it privately later, being too busy.

With a mischievous smirk on his face, he set to it, leaving his brothers trailing after him shouting questions.

…~oO*Oo~…

Marco paced anxiously around the room, glancing at the clock as he waited for his soulmate to return from her morning run. Knowing that she’d be exercising he’d taken his time in the shower, hoping she’d be back before he got out, well that and he was more than a bit dirty after several days spent on deck pacing around waiting for Fawkes to return, and it had taken a while to feel clean again.

However she hadn’t been back when he exited the bathroom. Still she said she wouldn’t be long, and so he finished getting ready and settled in, trying to do some work on his paperwork. Unfortunately he couldn’t seem to manage the focus necessary, his gaze flicking to the clock on the wall anxiously every other minute.

How long was too long to wait? Five minutes passed, then ten, and fifteen, and he was thinking he should give up and go and find her, worried that she couldn’t find her way back, when he finally felt her haki approaching along with his brother Jiru. 

Relieved he fought not to throw the door open, knowing she probably wouldn’t appreciate it, and settled on to the bed to wait. He felt something tight in his chest loosen as she stepped into the room, her expression distant and thoughtful. Looking her over he noted she looked a bit tired, likely from her run, but otherwise uninjured.

He was grateful then that he hadn’t gone to track her down. He got the feeling that despite wanting to be held last night his soulmate was extremely independent and wouldn’t care for him being ridiculously overprotective. Especially since he knew it was ridiculous.

Unfortunately he couldn’t seem to help himself when it came to her. He’d been waiting for her so long, even giving up hope on ever finding her, and now that she was here it was extremely hard to let her out of his sight lest something happen to her and she disappeared.

However he’d have to try, for her sake and his to trust her to take care of herself without him by her side all the time, because acting the way he wanted to was unhealthy and he knew it. Still, maybe he could at least keep her close for now? That would be understandable right?

“How was your run ~yoi?” he asked curiously, startling her out of her thoughts.

“Good,” she told him with a smile, “It was good. I talked with your brother Jiru for a while, he seemed nice.”

“Yeah, Jiru is the chivalrous sort,” Marco told her with a fond smile.

She grinned back, “I noticed.”

“Violetta…” he began than halted unsure how to proceed, and noted the instant scowl on her face.

“I promise I’m working on a nickname, it just hasn’t come to me yet ~yoi,” he told her correctly interpreting the reason for her scowl, “And I don’t feel comfortable calling you Vi in the interim.”

She sighed and shook her head, but in the end offered him an amused smile, “Alright, fine, you were saying?”

“I was wondering if maybe, for a while at least, you’d be willing to spend this time before breakfast with me doing a little training ~yoi,” he told her then hastily added, “I promised to teach you haki remember? The sooner we get started at it, the safer you’ll be.”

She frowned at him, and for a moment he wondered if she could see right through to the other more selfish reason of keeping her close, even if the reasoning he’d given her was valid, but then she nodded and he let out a silent breath of relief as she added, “That’s fine, as long as there’s some physical activity involved, and I can see about maybe teaching you some magic then too.”

“Sounds like a plan ~yoi,” he told her pleased.

“Alright, well give me about fifteen minutes to shower and change, and then do you want to maybe get breakfast? I think I’m starting to get hungry,” she said a sheepish smile crossing her face.

“I could eat,” he agreed amused, “And the food should be done here pretty quick anyways.”

She nodded and disappeared into the bathroom. When the sound of the shower started up he immediately turned to his paperwork. He was able to concentrate much more easily knowing she was only a shout away, though more than once his thoughts wandered to what she was doing in the shower, how she’d look with her hair wet, disheveled with water dripping down her pale skin.

Sooner than he would’ve expected the door to the bathroom opened again. Surprised he turned just in time to see a billow of steam escape through the open door. Apparently his soulmate liked her showers extremely warm, the thought amused him, and he prepared to stand, ready to head to breakfast, only to realize she apparently wasn’t finished getting ready.

He watched fascinated and more than a bit entranced as she stood in front of the mirror running her fingers through her wild hair, which outside of its pins and the braid looked even more wild than he expected, a thick riot of curls, and waves that he found extremely appealing. With her skin flushed and dewy from the shower and her wild hair she looked like she’d been up to something naughty rather than just innocently cleaning herself off.

It was a good thing she’d apparently decided to dress herself before opening the door, wearing sensible black pants, and an undershirt with a scaly looking green vest over it, or he would’ve had even more trouble than he was staying in his seat. As it was he was shifting far more than was normal trying not to give away his attraction, or the fact that despite facing his desk his eyes were glued on her.

He realized with each sweep of her fingers her wet hair became more and more dry, fascination overruled his lust as he watched her carefully pick strands of her hair, making small gestures with her fingers that pinned, twisted or braided each piece, pulling together an elaborate hairstyle that looked like it took hours in the space of mere minutes.

He continued to watch completely abandoning the pretense of working at his desk to watch, as she lightly traced fingers over her eyes, nose, lips and cheeks, color blooming to life on the places she touched. She examined her face in the mirror and was apparently satisfied with it as she turned to see him watching.

“Don’t let Izo know you can do that,” Marco warned, a teasing smirk on his lips, “He’ll have you waking up to help him with his hair and make-up every morning.”

She laughed, amused, her emerald eyes dancing, and he relished the sound of her laughter, pleased with himself for eliciting the reaction from her.

“Probably shouldn’t tell him that doing my face this way makes it water proof, and sweat-proof too huh?” she asked her lips quirking in a smile.

“He’d steal you for himself and then I’d never see you again ~yoi,” he teased, then more seriously he added, “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she told him gratified, “I was a little rumpled yesterday when we met I figured I could at least go back to normal today, though if I’d known I was meeting my soulmate I would’ve tried to dress up a bit.”

“You were beautiful then too ~yoi,” he informed her firmly, “I don’t need any extra effort from you to think you’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, but I know make-up makes ladies feel empowered, or that’s what Izo tells me anyway, so I don’t care either way, you’ll always be beautiful to me. I’m just glad you didn’t cover the scar, it suits you, makes you look like the fighter I know you are.”

Her hand fluttered self-consciously to the lightning mark on her face and she offered him a wry smile, “I’m glad you like it, because this mark was caused by a dark curse, and honestly neither Magic nor normal beauty products will cover it for more than a few minutes.”

Seeing her unhappiness he crossed the distance between them in a few short strides and gently captured the hand near her face. He’d always thought actions spoke far louder than words, so with his free hand he carefully gripped her chin, and tilted her face up towards him.

She didn’t fight, her emerald eyes wide with surprise, as he leaned in and gently pressed his lips to her skin, beginning at the at the start of the scar on her forehead and tracing his mouth gently and slowly over the ridged skin, his mouth ending at her neck just below her ear.

“Beautiful,” he reiterated firmly but quietly into her ear.

Violetta was stock still in his hold, and he could see her pulse racing in her neck. He wondered if he might’ve pushed a bit too far trying to get his point across, but then her body loosened and her forehead fell against his collarbone as she let out a small huff, her arms reaching out, one latching on to his shirt collar and the other circling around his waist. 

Sensing what she wanted he pulled her body tightly against his, relishing the way they fit together, like two pieces of a puzzle. He breathed in deeply taking in her freshly washed scent, and just enjoyed holding on to his soulmate for a moment.

Eventually she pulled away, and offered him a teasing smile, “You’re awfully sweet for the First Division Commander of a pirate crew.”

“Only for you ~yoi,” he assured lightly securing an arm around her waist, and she didn’t say anything, but leaned into him her head resting on his shoulder as he guided them back to the dining hall for breakfast.

It was still fairly early, so there weren’t many people, which suited him just fine. The last thing he wanted was another confrontation like last night’s. While Violetta had handled it with grace, he had been on edge the entire time. He still wasn’t pleased with the way that had gone down, and he wasn’t at all sure about letting Violetta eat on her own with the First Division tonight.

Unfortunately he didn’t have much of a choice. He knew Violetta well enough already to know there was no way she’d willingly back out of it, and confronting Cas would only lead to unhappiness in his Division. All he could really do was hope for the best, he didn’t know what he’d do if they couldn’t get along. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Violetta or his Division, he would’ve happily let them interact with each other, he just wanted to be there in case something went wrong.

If he was completely honest, he thought things would probably be fine, but he was a bit of a worrier sometimes, especially, it seemed, when it came to his soulmate.

“There you are!” Izo greeted brightly, interrupting his thoughts and waving the two of them over to their table. Beside him Thatch was half dozing against Izo’s shoulder, looking extremely tired. He wasn’t a morning person to say the least.

“You look lovely this morning Vi, did you have a good night?” Izo asked as they arrived at the table with their plates.

“Thank you,” she told him with a genuine smile, though her eyes danced with hidden laughter as her eyes flicked to Marco, no doubt remembering the conversation they’d been having not long ago, “You’re looking wonderful yourself.”

“And I did have a good night I slept surprisingly well considering,” she offered as she settled into her seat. Marco took the seat to her right and slid an arm around her waist.

She glanced at him for a second then shifted, settling more firmly into his side, as she began to eat. Marco could practically see the wheels turning in the Sixteenth Division Commander’s head as he watched them, a pleased smile on his lips. He shot his brother a warning look, telling him not to comment.

Izo snorted and rolled his eyes and acquiesced. Breakfast passed with Izo and Violetta holding up most of the conversation, with Thatch occasionally adding his own sleepy comments, not at all awake. Marco just watched pleased to see his family getting on so well.

Luckily they’d finished eating when a huge racket started up outside. Exchanging worried glances with his fellow Division Commanders, they rose to their feet and made their way outside with Violetta on their heels. What he saw froze them in their tracks, as shock coursed through his system.

…~oO*Oo~…

The day had started off well enough for Rakuyo, he’d gotten up early as per usual to take Macey, his mace who’d eaten the Inu-Inu fruit model Rottweiler, on her morning walk. While technically Rakuyo himself would prefer to be sleeping he’d learned long ago that if Macey wasn’t walked first thing in the morning she’d fall into her more destructive habits.

The last time he’d allowed himself to sleep in his beloved pet/weapon had chewed through one of the legs on his desk chair, gotten her chain stuck around the toilet and broken it free of its moorings spraying water everywhere, and then had broken out of his room and proceeded to harass any crew member she set eyes on.

Needless to say no one had been pleased with him, and he hadn’t slept in since. After all Marco had assured him that if Macey destroyed anything the money to repair or replace it would come directly from his personal spending money, which meant during the time it took to get everything in his room fixed and or replaced Macey had, had to subsist on cheap oil instead of the premium brand she preferred, and Rakuyo himself had been forced to drink swill, unable to afford his specially brewed Kahlua.

Neither of the two of them had been happy, and both had learned their lesson by the end of it. Since then he’d religiously risen with the sun, and if he didn’t Macey nudged him awake, she hadn’t enjoyed their punishment either.

Luckily after Macey was walked she’d usually settle down, and Rakuyo could catch a bit more shuteye before it became too loud on the Moby to sleep. This morning he’d taken up one of his usual spots leaning against the mast, with Macey happily chewing on one of her favorite forks, that they’d pilfered from a restaurant a while back.

He’d been happily dozing off when the sound of Macey’s warning growl had him instantly on guard. Glancing around he was just in time to see the phoenix, who was apparently Marco’s soulmates pet, land calmly on Macey’s head.

Macey didn’t particularly care for strangers, and like a typical dog she tended to chase birds, thus having a strange bird land on her head was bound to produce only one result.

The weapon turned canine howled in fury, shaking the bird off her head, and giving chase as the enormous crimson and gold bird squawked indignantly and took to the air. Unfortunately for the bird, Macey wasn’t actually a dog, and with her chain and ball composure she was more than capable of giving chase to the firebird even up into the rigging.

Said bird was not pleased, and Rakuyo cursed as a wave of flames emerged from the bird. Macey immediately stopped dead in her tracks, a frightened yip leaving her mouth, as the flames spread around her. Normally Rakuyo would be extremely concerned about his faithful companion right about now. However he’d borne witness to the phoenix taking revenge on the two idiots that had been wondering about plucking his tail feathers, and thus knew the flames were likely fake.

In a move that made Rakuyo question the bird’s supposed intelligence it stopped, perching on some rigging to watch as the weapon ran around the deck in a panic, apparently not realizing that metal can’t really be set on fire, and the small flame on the end of her chain was completely fake and even if it wasn’t it wouldn’t hurt her.

Admittedly it was rather amusing, and if Macey hadn’t been genuinely distressed Rakuyo might’ve laughed. Unluckily for the bird Macey was much smarter than the average dog, and after several moments figured out what was going on, and then turned to the bird, a furious snarl on her face.

Faster than even he believed possible the weapon launched itself at the phoenix. To his credit the bird was quicker than he looked, and had taken to the air, but not quick enough to stop Macey from grasping on to a single tail feather. With the bird going up, and gravity taking its’ toll on Macey who despite appearances was extremely heavy, the feather was yanked right out, and the bird shrieked in rage and pain.

Rakuyo realized then that it was probably past time to interfere. Neither Marco nor his soulmate were going to be happy about this. Unfortunately it was too late, as the bird turned to Macey, who was looking quite pleased with herself and her prize, with murder in his eyes.

Fire bloomed across the deck, and Rakuyo felt the heat as it whooshed past him towards Macey. He barely had time to call a warning to the weapon, who dodged out of the way, releasing the feather with a yip of surprise.

Racing forward grimly, knowing that the situation was now out of hand he tried to get between the two to stop the fight but neither paid him any mind too busy going at each other to listen. His brothers were converging on the area, but nothing they did seemed to help.

All around him people were gathering water, trying to put the fire out or grab the two animals. Unfortunately no one could get hold of the phoenix who was apparently able to teleport at will in a burst of flames and anyone who got close to Macey was subjected to a sharp bite, or the whip of her chain tail, the weapon too focused on her opponent to give anyone else around her a thought.

If Rakuyo could get ahold of her tail he’d be able to stop Macey, and control her, unfortunately the phoenix was another story. He wasn’t sure what he could do about him, but first thing’s first and that was getting Macey under control.

He had just managed to climb high enough in the rigging to risk lunging for Macey’s chain, when a cold female voice lashed out over the deck freezing everyone in their place, “What the bloody hell is going on here?”

The iciness in that voice stopped even the battling duo, and seizing his chance Rakuyo lunged grabbing hold of Macey’s chain, and yanking her down into submission. The movement brought everyone’s attention to him, and he glanced around sheepishly taking in the damage.

Luckily Namur had also taken advantage of the stillness to put out the last of the fires, around them though barrels were broken, ropes were snapped, wood and sails were singed, and several of his brothers were sporting small injuries. Luckily it seemed neither the Mace nor the bird had dealt any real damage to any of the bystanders or he would’ve felt worse than he already did.

“Well?” the female voice demanded again, and Rakuyo glanced around, his eyes finally spotting the source, Marco’s soulmate, because of course it was Marco’s soulmate who could bring the entire deck to a standstill with her voice alone. Fortunately her furious emerald gaze wasn’t fixated on him, the way he more than half expected to be, instead she was looking at the bird, who was looking more chagrinned than he’d previously thought avian features allowed for.

A series of warbling chirps, and a moment of silence later, apparently cleared things up for the woman, who stood with her hands on her hips her eyes fierce with anger and disappointment.

“Fawkes, you can’t go assuming that every creature in this world will be as amenable to your presence as the creatures in the Forbidden Forest were, landing on her like that was extremely rude,” she lectured her voice steady and firm, though tones of her displeasure still leaked through.

“You are several hundred years old, and you acted like a child,” she informed the bird, “I know your tail feathers especially are precious to you, but the minute you realized that she was genuinely unhappy and attacking you, you should have removed yourself from the situation or called for me the way I know you could’ve.”

“In case you’ve forgotten we are guests here on this ship, and you are my familiar, your actions reflect on my character, and you have not only damaged their home, but injured their family members, I am appalled and disappointed, what do you have to day for yourself?” she demanded unhappily.

The phoenix warbled sadly at her and she sighed, “Don’t apologize to me. I’m not the one who got hurt, nor was it my home you damaged.”

To his shock the phoenix then turned to the crew and made the same sad warbling noise.

“Fawkes apologizes for his actions and his disrespect in your home, he will gladly heal anyone who has injuries if you will kindly line up in front of him,” Marco’s soulmate interpreted.

Surprised the pirates glanced at the phoenix, then each other, finally one of the ones with a minor burn on his hand stepped forward, and the phoenix carefully lay his head on it, a single pearly tear dripping from his eye, the wound hissed, and before their eyes shrank and disappeared. 

Rakuyo gaped in amazement, he’d never seen anything like it. He was snapped out of his shock though as the woman turned those fierce green eyes on him, and then to the weapon in his hands.

“And you young lady,” the woman snapped, immediately capturing Macey’s attention, who’d been sitting smugly through the Phoenix’s lecture, “What do you have to say for yourself?”

The weapon in his hands growled, and Rakuyo opened his mouth to interfere, knowing if his weapon attacked Marco’s soulmate the two of them were going to be in deeper trouble than they already were. He wasn’t sure his brother would ever forgive him if something happened to his soulmate because of his headstrong weapon. He tightened his grip on her chain but didn’t get the chance to speak up.

“You will _watch you tone_ when you speak to me young lady,” the apparently fearless woman snapped, and Rakuyo’s eyes widened in surprise when not only did Macey stop growling she backed down with a soft whine of apology.

“Now, you don’t think you overreacted a touch?” Violetta demanded.

Macey whined unhappily, and Marco’s soulmate frowned, “Be that as it may, Fawkes’ tail feathers are extremely important to him, yanking them would be like if someone detached your chain.”

Said chain clanked slightly and Rakuyo got the feeling if he hadn’t been holding it his weapon would’ve wrapped it protectively around herself. He was in shock, was the woman actually getting through to Macey?

“That’s right, and look around you, from what I understand from Marco these people are supposed to be your family, and you hurt them. I may not know much about family, but the one thing I do know is you don’t hurt them like this, not ever,” she told his weapon, her voice soft and filled with disappointment.

Macey whined again her large eyes roving around, taking in the bite marks and red whip lashes across several arms and legs from her tail, then whimpered pitifully.

“I know you’re sorry, but someday sorry might not be enough, you need to get ahold of your temper young lady, and again, it’s not me you need to apologize to,” she informed the unhappy mace.

He was sure the shock on the rest of the crew’s face was reflected on his own, when Macey turned to the crew and bowed, whimpering quietly, thankfully there were general murmurs of acceptance that seemed to make the weapon feel a bit better. He was even more surprised when she turned to him and whined unhappily in apology.

“S’okay Mace,” he assured her reaching out to accept her heavy body in his arms, “We’re partners after all, we just need some more training I think.”

His dog weapon whuffled slightly in agreement and cuddled close.

“Now I think there’s one more apology the two of you need to make, and that is to each other,” she informed the two animals.

Neither one of them looked very happy about that, but under her stern gaze the two turned to each other and made half-hearted attempts at apologies. She sighed, “I suppose that will have to do, is there anything else you’d like to add?”

Rakuyo glanced at her surprised. She’d taken control of the situation so thoroughly he hadn’t thought she’d ask his opinion at all, though he was gratified she’d done so.

“Mace, you know your punishment, you’re going to be back on the bad oil until we get this paid off again, and you’re going to help me clean it up this time,” Rakuyo told his weapon sternly, figuring he should see if he could use punishment to make the lesson Marco’s soulmate started actually stick this time.

His weapon whined pitifully, but he refused to be budged, and eventually she gave in with an unhappy sigh.

“I’ll help you,” Violetta volunteered, “Both with the clean-up and with the costs, we’ll split it fifty-fifty.”

“Ah you don’t have to do that,” Rakuyo told her surprised again by the offer, but not wanting to interfere in her time with Marco, “We got this.”

“It’s only fair,” she insisted firmly, “Fawkes is half responsible for the mess.”

“Do you have the money ~yoi?” Marco asked with a frown, and Rakuyo realized he had a point, after all who said a different world would use the same currency?

“I don’t know,” she admitted with a thoughtful frown, “But even if I don’t have the cash on hand, I do have a couple of useless but relatively valuable trinkets I could pawn off easily enough.”

Marco sighed and nodded, “Alright then, the rest of you, get back to what you were doing, it seems we’re cleaning up a mess.”

Rakuyo was surprised when Violetta waited until the others had dispersed before turning to Marco, and attempting to shoo him away as well.

“Go on, I know you’ve still got that paperwork in your room to do,” she urged gently.

“I should be helping you ~yoi,” Marco insisted firmly, “We’re partners aren’t we? Besides, paperwork doesn’t need to be done until the end of the month, that’s not until next week some time.”

“We are partners,” she agreed with a soft smile, “But this was because of my familiar, he is my sole responsibility, and thus this is my sole responsibility to help with clean up. I wouldn’t want your help as a matter of honor, so the least I can do is let you go do your paperwork and get something productive done. Besides if you get it done early while I’m busy with something else that means I don’t have to sit around waiting for you to finish it later.”

“If you want to help me out though,” she added, apparently seeing the same thing that Rakuyo was, in that Marco wasn’t quite ready to cave in, “you could take Fawkes with you. He’s worn out now from all the healing, and I don’t think he’d be too much help with the cleanup anyway.”

He could see his brother studying his soulmate intently, apparently trying to decide if she was going to waiver at all. In the end though he sighed and gave way, walking over to the exhausted bird and carefully scooping it into his arms. He paused by his soulmate and whispered something in her ear that made her smile at him, carefully wrapping him in a one armed hug before shooing him on his way.

“I’m impressed,” Rakuyo told her, and he was, he’d never seen anyone make Marco give way so easily outside Oyaji, “You’ve already got him wrapped around your little finger.”

He was amused to see her blush, jerking in surprise at being spoken to, apparently she’d been watching her soulmate walk away, and hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings. He grinned at her entertained.

“Do you think so?” she asked her voice more wistful than she probably intended.

“Oh believe me I know so,” he assured her amused.

She offered him a shy hesitant smile, nothing at all like the confident spitfire she’d been when lecturing two dangerous animals into submission, and he saw for a brief second just how vulnerable she was feeling. His heart went out to her, this certainly couldn’t be easy and their respective animals hadn’t helped that was for sure.

“So where would you like to start?” she asked pushing up her sleeves and glancing around at the mess, vulnerabilities pushed safely back under steel walls, as the two of them set to work, subject firmly changed.

Honestly even when she’d agreed to help, Rakuyo hadn’t expected her to be able to do much, especially since she couldn’t use her magic in full sight of the other crewmembers. 

However, it turned out she was surprisingly good at cleaning, and once she got to talking about Fawkes, and the trouble the two of them had gotten into together she was also surprisingly easy to talk to. The two traded stories, chatting amiably or working in comfortable silence, with Macey bouncing between the two of them, eager to help wherever she could.

He was pleasantly surprised. In all honesty he hadn’t known what to think of Marco’s soulmate, especially seeing as she was from a world that was obviously very different from their own, but over the course of the time working to clean up the mess he found himself liking her.

Seeing her more relaxed made him realize she was a lot like Marco, and despite the fact that she guarded herself with more spikes than Macey, she was surprisingly laidback. He could see how, under the layers of hurt, anger and betrayal she was at heart a good match for his brother.

They just needed to work their way in past the layers. He got the feeling if they did, they’d have earned themselves an extremely loyal, loving family member. The problem was going to be getting past her defenses and healing some of the damage she’d suffered at the hands of her so-called former family.

Most of that healing was going to have to fall to Marco as her soulmate, and probably a good chunk to Oyaji as captain, but he and the others could help it along, and he resolved to do so. After all anyone who could put his Macey in her place, and earn the weapon’s trust and friendship was good with him, and it was becoming obvious she idolized Marco’s soulmate. He’d almost be worried if it wasn’t for the fact that she split her time equally between the two of them.

He smiled in amusement and resolved that yes, this was his new sister, and yes he approved her as a match for Marco, now all they had to do was make it work. Macey as if hearing his thoughts let out a happy whuff, chain clinking along the deck in what seemed like agreement.

…~oO*Oo~…

It wasn’t easy, leaving his soulmate alone with Rakuyo to do the cleaning from the earlier fiasco with Fawkes and Macey. Still he knew she would be safe with his brother, or as safe as she could possibly be out of his line of sight, and he would still be keeping an eye on her with observation Haki.

Plus she’d raised a good point about getting his paperwork done. He certainly wouldn’t want it getting in the way of actual time with his soulmate. He sighed and shuffled the papers, glancing over at the phoenix, who was snoozing quietly on the improvised perch Marco had made for him by his desk.

It had been amazing to see the firebird use his tears to heal his brothers earlier, even if they were only mild injuries. Still now he was a little worried, because the phoenix wasn’t looking so good. His feathers, which he could’ve sworn were vibrant not too long ago, seemed almost grey around the edges, and some of them had even fallen out.

The bird was also drooping more than a bit on his perch, and frankly he was a bit surprised he hadn’t fallen off yet. Honestly Marco was more than a bit anxious. After all he knew his soulmate would be absolutely devastated if something happened to her familiar. 

He knew from their conversation yesterday she wasn’t remotely over whatever had happened to her previous one Hedwig, thus he kept a careful eye on the phoenix, gently coaxing him to eat some of the dried dates he kept secreted away in the drawer of his desk for emergencies, well that and to ensure he got them and none of his brothers snarfed them all before he got any as per the usual with food on this ship.

Unfortunately despite his careful watch he was still shocked when the phoenix burst into flames. Luckily these ones didn’t seem hot, so he wasn’t too worried at first, until he realized the bird was shrinking, or not so much shrinking as disintegrating before his eyes.

He cursed, frantically casting around for something to put the fire out, lunging for the bed and one of the heavier blankets, hoping to smother the fire. However he was too late. He stared numbly at the perch and the small pile of ash wondering what the hell he was supposed to tell his soulmate.

She would never forgive him for this he was sure. He’d let her pet die on his watch, after she’d specifically asked him to watch over the firebird. A hand came up and gripped his hair in frustration and fear as he tried to figure out what to do, and what had happened.

Had the fight affected the phoenix more than he thought? Had Macey damaged him when she took that tail feather in some irreparable way? Had it just been his time to go? He didn’t know.

Deciding he needed to at least clean up the mess of ashes, he knelt down, only to realize with a start that it was moving. Too shocked to do more than watch, he stared as the pile shifted, and a small avian head finally poked its way out of the pile, glancing around with a plaintive chirping sound.

Awed he watched as the small bird worked his way free of the pile, and began tottering towards him, softly chirping all the while. Absently he recalled in some of the studies he’d done on phoenixes how they were said to rise again from the ashes. He’d thought that was maybe just a fancy way of saying healed themselves from injuries that should’ve killed them, the way his power did, but apparently not. After all this phoenix had literally risen from his ashes, reverting to his younger form, de-aging himself.

Reaching out, he carefully ran a finger over the downy head of the bird, who peeped appreciatively and pecked at his fingers. The chick hopped carefully up into his lap and peeped over and over again, pecking him at first softly and then harder, and harder until it would’ve been hard enough to draw blood if he hadn’t healed instantly.

“Ouch!” The hell was that for ~yoi?” Marco demanded confused pulling his hands away from the small creature, who peeped at him again. Unfortunately Marco quickly realized that while he’d been able to understand some of what the adult version of the phoenix had been saying, he had no clue what he was trying to say now, likely because he was a baby.

Relieved that the bird was okay, and figuring it was probably fine on its own considering Violetta had said he was over seven hundred years old, he carefully removed the small creature from his lap, to stop it from pecking him, deciding he needed to get back to paperwork.

He settled into his desk, and was just about to start on the chore assignments for next month when something sharp bit in to his toe. He jumped out of his seat in surprise cursing and hopping for a second until his flames healed the minor injury. Glancing around to spot the source of his troubles, he spotted the bird, staring up at him from beneath the desk. Apparently he’d decided to peck him again.

Annoyed, and feeling more than a bit uncharitable, he glanced around the room, and his eyes finally lit on a decent sized wooden box he’d shoved into a corner that he sometimes used as a footstool under his desk. Grabbing it, he set it upright, then collected a soft blanket from the bed, laying it carefully in the box, arranging some of it like a small nest, determined to still do a good job caring for the bird even if he had apparently decided to attack him. Knowing his soulmate was counting on him.

Carefully scooping up the chick he plopped it into the box, watching for a minute to ensure it couldn’t escape or injure itself before turning back to his work. It was quiet for a while, but then the bird began to peep. It was relatively soft at first, but then it began to get louder and louder, eventually turning into a loud shriek that he couldn’t in good conscious ignore.

Cursing he moved over to the crate, afraid something was wrong, only to see the phoenix was perfectly fine. He even immediately went quiet at the sight of Marco, “You’re really loud for such a little thing ~yoi.”

The bird didn’t reply, he hadn’t expected it to. Deciding it was fine he turned back to his work, only for the bird to begin shrieking again. However when he moved over to the box he immediately stopped. The process repeated itself several times, until Marco feeling more than a bit harried and frazzled, concerned that something might actually be wrong with the tiny avian demanded, “What the hell do you want from me ~yoi?”

Immediately the small bird sat back on his haunches and raised his neck up, extending his body upwards as far as possible, beak open wide. Marco didn’t know a whole lot about birds despite them being his favorite animal, but he did know begging when he saw it.

“You’re hungry? But I don’t have food for you,” he murmured with a frown. He didn’t know anything about what Phoenix’s ate, and the only way to find out would be to go find Violetta and ask her.

Despite this being a good excuse to go see her, he found himself not wanting to bother her with this. She’d trusted him to look after the firebird and he didn’t want her to think him incapable. That left only one solution.

He rummaged around in his desk, found the package again and carefully he began to offer the little bird a date, only to realize it was way to big for his small beak. Frowning, not wanting him to choke on it Marco methodically tore it into smaller pieces and slowly fed them to the begging phoenix. He smiled triumphantly as he happily accepted the morsels, with a soft peep that sounded like thanks.

Unfortunately baby phoenixes were apparently quite gluttonous and he stared mournfully down at the empty bag of dates that he hadn’t gotten any of. He fought the urge to shoot the bird a dirty look, because honestly he didn’t even let his brothers eat all his dates! Honestly the things he did for his soulmate!

He heaved a sigh as he noticed the small bird settling comfortably down in the box, and turned back to his desk intent on finally getting some work done. He nearly fell out of his seat, as the minute he sat down a fire erupted in his lap, far too close to the apex of his legs to induce anything but panic despite knowing he’d heal.

He let out another stream of curses as he realized the baby phoenix had teleported himself into his lap. From what he’d seen earlier he knew Fawkes could teleport, he just hadn’t expected him to do it when he was so small.

“You think you’re clever don’t you ~yoi?” Marco asked the bird in his lap, with grudging admiration as Fawkes stared back, “But it’s back into the box for you. I have work to be doing.”

However it wasn’t to be, as each time he put the phoenix back in the box he teleported right back out again, landing on a different spot on Marco’s person each time. As First Division Commander he knew that there were times you had to admit defeat, and this was one of them. Heaving a sigh he figured he’d let the stupid bird do whatever it wanted, there was nothing he could really do to stop it.

Heaving a sigh, he turned back and finally, _finally_ got to work on his paperwork. Refusing to admit to himself that when he thought about it he was more than a bit amused at the phoenix’s antics, and wondering if Violetta’s familiar was as stubborn as his mistress.

…~oO*Oo~…

Violetta offered Rakuyo a last wave of thanks for showing her back to Marco’s rooms, patting Macey one last time before opening the door and stopping in her tracks. Both occupants of the room had turned to look at her when they heard the door open.

A sound escaped her lips and she quickly clamped her hands over her mouth to try to stop it, but she couldn’t help it. Laughter spilled from her lips the force making her cling to the doorframe in her hysteria to keep upright.

Marco had been sitting at his desk, apparently doing his work, nothing off with that, but Fawkes who’d apparently had a burning day had been situated squarely on top of her soulmate’s head, peering up with bleary eyes that indicated he’d been sleeping. It brought a new twist to the term ‘bird’s nest hair’ the thought caused her start laughing all over again desperately trying to catch her breath.

Her soulmate had looked extremely confused when she’d first started laughing, up until she’d managed to choke out the words ‘bird nest’ to him. He’d then promptly removed Fawkes from his head, a slight flush on his tan cheeks and an extremely unimpressed look on his face.

“D-don’t be mad,” she managed to force out between giggles, crossing the room to take Fawkes from his hands, tucking the small phoenix safely into the crook of her neck at her shoulder before looping her arms around Marco’s neck, pressing her face to his neck to try to stifle her giggles, “It was cute, you’re cute.”

Marco grumbled incoherently and pulled her into his lap, holding her there, and nuzzling his face into her neck, “The deck all clean again ~yoi?”

“Yeah, as good as it’s going to get anyway,” she told him relaxing into his grip and setting her head on his shoulder, “So what now?”

“I was thinking I could give you a tour, if you’re up for it, might help you find your way around better,” he offered.

“A tour sounds good actually,” she told him carefully climbing to her feet, “I’m a little tired of having to be escorted around everywhere for fear of getting lost.”

He nodded, and led her out the door, capturing one of her hands in his bigger ones, lacing their fingers together as he gently led her around the ship. Honestly the thing was huge, it had to be to have over fifteen hundred people on it, including all the pirates and ships nurses, but she was still taken aback by it as they explored from stem to stern.

Marco was a surprisingly good tour guide, and she got the feeling he’d probably done this more than once before. Not surprising really considering he was a Division Commander. He didn’t just show her where things were, he also told her funny stories about this or that brother that did something stupid or impressive in that spot leaving this or that mark on their home.

And it truly was their home, not just a ship. She’d said as much to Fawkes earlier, but hadn’t realized how true what she was saying actually was until she was listening to Marco as he rambled lovingly on about it. 

Their tour wasn’t without interruptions though. Some of the pirates hung back, but the braver ones approached and introduced themselves. She was more than happy to meet more people, but the sheer number of them was a little overwhelming, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t remember even half of the names of the people she was introduced to despite her Occlumency’s help at retaining information and impressive name-face memory.

Interestingly Marco knew every single person on board, greeting them by name when they stopped them and chatting with them about this or that person, or asking about their soulmates or friends, and so on. She found herself extremely impressed by his ability to not only retain all that information, but also with how much he obviously cared about each individual aboard even outside his own Division.

She was starting to see why Cas was so protective and admiring of the man. Her soulmate seemed to be a genuinely kind person, or at least he was kind to his crew, his family, and that was more than enough for her.

With all the talking, stories, and chats they did it took several hours to finish their tour, and they’d managed to miss lunch. Luckily when they swung by the Dining Hall Thatch was there, and more than willing to pass off a few sandwiches to tide them over until dinner.

They took their small snack and some water with them to the figurehead of the ship, an enormous whale head, and sat down to eat and chat. She’d realized sometime along the way that the Moby, with its’ white whale figurehead actually reminded her of the story with the same title from her world.

Apparently it didn’t exist in this world, and Whitebeard had named the ship on a whim, which was irony at its finest. She was more than happy to regale the fascinated Marco with what she remembered of the story, one that she’d nicked off of Dudley during one of her Summer Holidays with the Dursleys, knowing he’d never read it, and wouldn’t miss it.

In the end they both agreed the ship was aptly named, and wondered about some of the other strange parallels they might find between the two worlds. He’d asked her about Blackbeard, remembering she’d mentioned it yesterday, but she didn’t recall a whole lot, since it wasn’t something that had really interested her at any point.

She did however inform him that he shared a name with a famous explorer in her world, Marco Polo, and the children’s game the name had become. He was a little disgruntled by the game, and told her not to tell his brothers about it or he’d never hear the end of it.

He was just about to tell her a little more about some of the islands he’d seen on the Grand Line, when a shout caught their attention. Apparently the lookout had spotted something. The two of them out on the figurehead barely had time to react as long serpentine figures rose from the depths of the ocean.

Violetta gaped at them. She’d seen a lot of animals during her time exploring the Forbidden Forest but never anything like this. The closest she could remember was actually the basilisk she’d fought when she was twelve, though the Basilisk certainly hadn’t had hair the way these strange snakes seemed to.

“Yuda,” Marco informed her looking more than a bit pale under his tan, “Violetta, back away, back away right now. These things are extremely poisonous.”

However she was so caught up in listening to the snakes hissing that she barely heard him. Another reason the so-called Light Magicals were afraid of her going Dark, was because unlike what they’d thought, she’d actually retained her ability to speak Parseltongue after Voldemort’s horcrux had been removed. Apparently despite having hair these were still snakes, and she still understood them.

She did notice though when she was suddenly scooped firmly into Marco’s arms, as he hastily dodged out of the way of the snakes who were lunging angrily at them. He was cursing and shouting for help, and it took a second for her to orient to the bouncing around to try something of her own.

_ξ stop ξ_ she hissed loudly into the face of one of the Yuda who came close to hitting them, the purple liquid dripping from its fangs barely missing her face, and instead dripping on to Marco’s shirt, which hissed as it dissolved.

The Yuda reared back in surprise knocking into the one behind it, and effectively curtailing their attack for a second, and startling Marco into a standstill for a brief moment.

_ξ We didn’t mean to intrude on your nest ξ_ she hissed into the silence, projecting her voice as loudly as she could, amplifying it slightly with magic, knowing that was reason they were so upset, _ξ and if you give me a second I will have them reroute the ship ξ_

One of the Yudas lowered its’ head slowly to look at her, its tongue flicking in and out slowly tasting the air, to his credit Marco didn’t move, though she could feel him practically vibrating to do so.

_ξ you smell of the queen ξ_ it hissed at her, _ξ but you are not of the scaled ones ξ_

_ξ No I am no scaled one, but once I was forced to fight a queen gone mad, she bit me, her scent remains, because of her venom in my blood ξ_ she explained carefully. Fortunately she knew exactly what they were talking about thanks to the oddly deferential snakes she’d met in the Forbidden Forest, and a conversation she’d once had with Fawkes about how she was suddenly immune to all things poisonous.

_ξ Defeater of the Queen, why do you trespass on our nest? ξ_ the Yuda asked warily.

_ξ I had not intended to trespass, we were simply sailing by, and hadn’t realized you were nesting here, my apologies to you and your kin, if you agree to stop attacking, as I said I will speak to our captain and have him reroute the ship ξ_ she offered again.

The Yuda she was speaking to seemed to be considering it until another voice spoke up this one higher, and distinctly female where the one she’d been speaking to before was definitely male, _ξ No! Must avenge hurt younglings ξ_

_ξ Your little ones were injured? ξ_ she asked concerned, _ξ Is there anything I can do? ξ_

That brought the angry female up short and she thrashed agitated glancing at the one Violetta had been speaking to first, who was apparently a leader of some sort.

_ξ Perhaps you tend younglings? Stop bleeding, save them, we do not have strange tails like you, we cannot… ξ_ the snake trailed off helplessly.

_ξ I will ξ_ she promised immediately, _ξ Bring them to me, let me see what I can do ξ_

The large sea snake nodded in agreement, and hissed at one of the others, who immediately dove into the water to presumably fetch the little ones.

_ξ You will tend younglings, but if you hurt younglings I will hurt you, Defeater of the Queen or no ξ_ the female one told her eyes narrowed threateningly, and Violetta nodded in agreement, grateful they were going to let her try to help at all.

“Marco you need to put me down, I need to be ready,” she told him keeping her gaze on the snakes.

“What’s going on ~yoi?” Marco asked his voice strained in the silence of the ship, his grip tightening on her, refusing to let her down, “I don’t understand, what’s happening?”

“It seems we traveled into their nest by mistake,” Violetta explained her calm voice seeming overly loud in the stillness, “And in doing so we injured their young. Needless to say they’re not very happy with us.”

“You understand Yuda speech?” Namur asked awe clear in his voice, and she suddenly realized that several of the Division Commanders had appeared, along with their Oyaji himself, which is probably why Marco hadn’t pulled her out the way she’d been more than half expecting him to.

“I understand all snakes, as part of my gifts,” she explained as Marco finally loosened his grip enough for her to wriggle out of his grasp, though he didn’t move far from her, “Along with being immune to poison.”

She figured she should probably add that part to soothe her poor soulmate’s nerves if nothing else.

“What’s going on then?” Whitebeard commanded firmly, “What did they say?”

“I promised I’d take a look at the little ones we injured and see if I could patch them up enough to survive, in other oceans, the ones in my world, blood in the water attracts predators, and while these adult ones are probably capable of defending their young, best not tempt fate, that and if the injuries are really bad some of the young might die because they have no real way to stem the bleeding, snakes don’t have hands after all,” she told him calmly, “That and I said we would go around their nest, we will won’t we?”

Whitebeard held her gaze for a moment then nodded in agreement, “If that’s what you promised to make them stop then of course we shall abide by your promise. Though please ask in the future before making such concessions.”

Violetta nodded in agreement, realizing he was right, it wasn’t exactly her place to decide that kind of thing, being only a guest on the ship. However she hadn’t exactly been thinking about that in the heat of the moment.

“If you could please make sure that no one sees while I tend the snakes I’d appreciate it,” she requested politely.

Whitebeard nodded, and the Division Commanders all broke off to redirect the crowd. She was surprised though when Jozu came back with Ria in tow.

“I figured if the Commanders were sending people away you were going to use your powers and I wanted to see some of your magic for myself,” Ria explained with a grin.

Violetta smiled back, but was distracted by the arrival of the Yuda who’d disappeared. He reappeared carrying several little ones, probably a dozen, each with an assortment of injuries, from minor scrapes to deep gouges, and she hurried over to assist.

Luckily human first aid spells worked just as well on animals as they did on people, and she’d learned a thing or two about triage from Madame Pomfrey. Starting with the worst snakes she quickly did diagnostics and began to heal what she could, muttering to the little ones, who were crying, in Parseltongue all the while.

Several of the Division Commanders slowly gravitated closer to get a look at what she was doing, and Ria stayed at her shoulder, watching absolutely fascinated. The only one closer than Ria was Marco, and that was because he was helping to handle the snakes under her instructions, because if they accidentally bit him in their pain, he’d be able to heal himself instantly.

In the back of her mind she noted no one shied away from her as she spoke the snake language openly. It was a refreshing feeling, to not be judged for a talent she’d apparently been born with.

After she finished healing each little snake to the best of her abilities, she carefully passed them back over the edge of the ship’s railing to one of the adult Yuda, who lowered the little one back into the water, all except for the first one she’d healed, who’d decided to coil herself up Violetta’s arm and refused to let go.

She hadn’t been able to work like that though so she eventually coaxed the small acid green female to curl around her waist instead, with Marco watching the whole process anxiously at her side. The snake carefully settled herself resting her head on Violetta’s shoulder, so she could see what was going on.

Fawkes, who had been setting on her other shoulder had not been pleased by this arrangement, but a quick scolding had him subdued again, though she thought he would be glaring darkly at the little Yuda if he’d been allowed to see her.

“That was amazing!” Ria told her when she finished, her eyes lit with wonder, “Are you sure you don’t want to be a nurse on the ship? I think you’d be really good at it.”

“It wasn’t that wonderful. Healing spells really aren’t my forte, as it was I could only ensure any small fractures would stay in place while they healed, numb the pain, and stem the bleeding. I can splint things too, but outside of that I can’t do much. I can’t work miracles like re-growing flesh or knitting bone together the way trained healers in my world can, and I’m much better at fighting,” she demurred, “though I appreciate the offer.”

Whatever Ria might’ve said in reply was cut off as the male Yuda from before lowered his head down again to speak to her, _ξ We thank you for your aid Defeater of the Queen, and upon conferencing unanimously agreed we would aid you in turn, it has been discussed among the nest, and we agree to pull your ship for you through our territory which extends many lengths in the direction you wanted to go. ξ_

She watched awed as all the Yuda bowed to her, even the female, who’d threatened her. Given that seven of the injured little Yuda were gathered around her, and likely her own young, it really wasn’t surprising she’d been so hostile.

 _ξ Let me speak to my leader of your offer to ensure his approval ξ_ she told the snake, who eyed her for a second then nodded his agreement.

“Instead of going around the Yuda’s have offered to tow us through their territory in thanks for my healing them,” Violetta told Whitebeard, who’d stayed on deck watching the process with the rest of his sons.

Whitebeard hummed thoughtfully and turned his gaze on the leading Yuda, who stared back, something seemed to be communicated between them, and finally Whitebeard laughed, “Very well! It seems we shall travel in style my children, prepare some ropes!”

It took a few minutes, and some careful translations from her to ensure all parties were satisfied, but eventually they rigged up something that would allow the Yuda to safely tow them. Most of the Commanders stayed on deck enjoying the speed with which they moved through the ocean, far faster than they’d been going before.

“You know I think you scared ten years off my life,” Marco told her quietly enough that no one else could hear him, as he carefully wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her so her back was resting against his chest, mindful of the Yuda, “Yudas are some of the most deadly creatures on the Grand Line, even Sea Kings fear them, and yet you let one get right up in your face.”

“I had to try something,” she told him with a grimace understanding why he would be worried but not too concerned about it, “They were upset, and for good reason, plus it seemed a shame to let anyone get hurt fighting over a simple misunderstanding.”

She felt more than heard Marco’s sigh, “I understand, but please try to give me some sort of warning in the future, my heart can’t take too much of that ~yoi.”

“I’ll try,” she told him with a light laugh, “Though trouble has a way of finding me.”

Marco just sighed again, and pressed his lips to her temple for a second before tucking her underneath his chin. They spent the rest of the time traversing the Yuda nest in comfortable silence.

As the Division Commanders worked to undo their makeshift Yuda halters, she’d gone to try to hand off the Yuda at her waist back to her family, only to get a surprise. Apparently the young female sea snake had decided she liked Violetta too much to leave, and wanted to stay.

Nothing Violetta or her family said seemed to change her mind. Violetta had tried to get Whitebeard or Marco to set their foot down, but Whitebeard thought it might be good for them to have a Yuda ally, and Marco liked the idea of a pet who would protect her.

With Violetta as translator an agreement had been worked out between the leading Yuda and Whitebeard, wherein Sessha, the young female Yuda, would stay with Violetta and the Whitebeard crew for a year, and would then be brought back here to the nest to reevaluate if she wanted to stay with the crew or not.

In turn for playing passenger the young Yuda agreed to act as bodyguard for Violetta and to sometimes help with scouting around the ship if required. Violetta had grumbled at the first condition, and pointed out that she might not be staying with the ship, so what then?

Whitebeard had given her an amused look, and told her that would be fine, though if she chose to settle somewhere else she would simply have to take over the responsibility of keeping the Yuda safe and bringing her back in the timeframe agreed upon. She sighed, unable to come up with anymore arguments and agreed, which is how she ended up going to dinner, with Fawkes on one shoulder and the Yuda on the other.

Luckily Cas hadn’t been at all bothered by this, and even seemed charmed by the snake, who liked him as well. Between the two of them they’d shooed the hovering Marco off, though not before she passed the still young Fawkes off to him, and headed off to get something to eat before heading to the table where it seemed pretty much the entirety of the First Division was waiting.

She was admittedly more than a bit nervous as she sat down at the table, taking the saved seat next to Cas, though she hoped it wasn’t showing on her face.

“So everyone this is Vi, Vi this is everyone, don’t worry too much about names right now, we’ll get to that later,” Cas introduced with a wave at the table.

“Hello, thanks for having me,” she said politely. Someone snorted in amusement.

“No need to be so formal girl, we’re not gonna bite ya, and even if we were I gots the feeling that little friend of yours might bite us right back,” one of the men across from her at the table told her with a wink, indicating the Yuda, who was sniffing a chunk of meat that Cas was offering her an interested look on her face.

He was a scruffy looking fellow with dirty blond hair and beard, with large bulging muscles, and about Jozu’s size, wearing an open navy colored vest proudly displaying the Whitebeard Mark on the right breast pocket in white.

“Oh, this is Sessha, she’s apparently going to be my bodyguard,” Violetta told them rolling her eyes slightly.

“Bodyguard?” one of the men asked curiously.

“Yeah, that was part of the agreement for her coming along that Whitebeard made with the Yuda leader,” she told them, lightly scratching a finger over Sessha’s head, “Marco insisted.”

The man who’d mentioned Sessha biting snorted again in amusement, “So you’ve discovered the Commander’s protective side have ya? Don’t worry about it too much. He’s a pretty laidback guy about most things, but he can be a wee bit cautious when it comes to protectin’ the things he thinks of as his, and as his soulmate you certainly qualify.”

“I’m capable of protecting myself you know,” Violetta informed him primly, startling a laugh out of some of those listening.

“I am,” she insisted with a frown, not appreciating their response.

“We don’t doubt your word, just that you being capable isn’t going to stop the Commander sorry to say,” Cas told her with a shrug.

“He does it to most of the crew, and even Oyaji sometimes so don’t fret too much about it,” another man assured her, he was wearing what looked to be black pants and a white button up shirt with pocket square that had the Whitebeard emblem stitched into it, “I’m Gerald by the way, and this ruffian here is Stern.”

The man who’d talked to her first waved in acknowledgment, taking a huge bite out of the leg of meat he’d chosen to eat, and then washing it down with what looked like beer before letting out a mighty belch, which made Gerald’s nose wrinkle in distaste.

“Have you been with Marco a while then?” she asked curiously.

“I myself have been aboard for about seven years, and Stern here for about ten, Cas I think is the longest at twenty something,” Gerald answered politely.

“Thirty this year,” Cas told her with a proud smirk.

“Huh, that’s almost as long as I’ve been alive,” she remarked surprised.

“What really?” Stern asked spraying food in his haste to ask his question not noticing or uncaring about Gerald’s unhappily wiping sprayed food from his face, “Well I’ll be damned! Guess the Commander isn’t quite the cradle robber we thought he was!”

This was said loudly enough the whole Dining Hall could hear, and startled a bark of laughter out of her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Marco level a poisonous glare in their direction, but it seemed to soften a bit at her laugh.

“Nah, though looking at him I would’ve thought I was the cradle robber,” she confided amused, “But I think we’re fairly well matched in this at least.”

“Speaking of well matched, you and the Commander seem to be getting awfully cuddly,” Cas told her leadingly an amused grin on his face. She could feel herself flush a bit at that, to the enjoyment of the men at the table, who were grinning at her, “Moving along right quick aren’t ya?”

He went to throw an arm over her shoulder and she flinched startled, and Sessha began to hiss quietly in warning, the smiles the others had been wearing faded and Cas looked at her confused, and more than a little concerned.

“Sorry,” she apologized immediately ducking her head in embarrassment, though she did gently rub Sessha’s head to encourage her to stop hissing, “I don’t like to be touched by people I don’t know well, and I startle easily.”

“But Marco’s okay?” Stern asked with a confused frown, “I mean you two were all over each other earlier, we all saw it.”

Gerald elbowed him in the side, but Stern wouldn’t budge, “Well we did.”

“For whatever reason Marco touching me doesn’t set off my instincts the way others always have,” she offered feeling it was only fair to give some form of explanation, “Probably because the idea of trusting your soulmate implicitly is one of the few things life didn’t beat out of me.”

She’d meant it to come off as a joke, but judging from the concerned looks she was getting it had fallen more than a bit flat in that department.

“So your new little bodyguard seems to be quite protective, between her and the debacle this morning with that phoenix of yours and Macey it seems you have quite the way with animals,” Cas offered, blatantly changing the subject.

“I adore animals,” she admitted with a thankful grin in his direction, “The phoenix, Fawkes and I used to spend nearly all of our free time exploring the forest near our home, and meeting all sorts of interesting creatures. And speaking of the incident this morning, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know things would get out of hand with Fawkes out on the deck unsupervised.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it, no one was hurt bad and your birdie healed em all up, and none of the damage couldn’t be fixed,” Stern assured her with a grin, “Plus you ain’t the first to make a mess, on the Moby, we seen plenty of those, and much bigger than the little dust up between Macey and your birdie.” 

“Though it was crudely put he’s correct,” Gerald told her apparently seeing her skeptical look, “Many of the others have caused damage to the ship either fighting or partying or both at the same time.”

“That’s right, even your soulmate has caused damage before, though that’s usually when he’s busting heads for not doing chores,” Cas told her with a grin.

“Yes, I did get quite the schpeal on how important paperwork and chores were to a pirate ship,” she noted dryly, causing those who could hear her to guffaw.

“Pretty sure his lecture is memorized at this point, as many times as he’s had to give it to Thatch,” Cas said casting a smirking glance over at the Division Commanders who were once more sitting together apparently as some kind of moral support for Marco.

“Thatch?” she asked curiously.

“Yes, the Fourth Division Commander has never been particularly consistent about getting his share of the paperwork done,” Gerald informed her his lips a moue of disapproval.

“I remember, the first few times after Thatch became a Division Commander he didn’t get his paperwork done on time, and Marco chased him all over the deck in phoenix form, pecking and kicking him around until he agreed to sit down and do it,” Cas told her with a fond expression on his face, “I think the railing on one of the upper decks still has the crack in it from Thatch tripping over it and face planting into the deck below.”

Violetta giggled, “Sounds like it would’ve been fun to see.”

“Oh it was,” Stern assured her with a grin, “Course someone is always doing something stupid around here.”

“I heard, Marco told me some stories about everyone when he was giving me a tour of the ship earlier,” she told them, smirking slightly and glancing at Cas out of the corner of her eye.

“Damnit Marco, a man gets inked by a giant squid one time,” Cas cursed annoyed, glaring at her when she laughed, it had been one of her favorite stories earlier.

“Well if that’s the way he wants to play it, fine then, let’s see how he likes the tables turned,” Cas told her casting a dark look over at his Commander before turning to her with a wicked smile.

“Oh?” she asked, “Please, do tell.”

And he did, apparently nearly thirty years in Marco’s Division meant Cas had amassed more than his fair share of stories about her soulmate over the years. Some of the highlights included the time Marco got his pants taken by seaking mid-battle, apparently her soulmate went commando, which was good to know, the time Marco accidentally tripped right into the ocean when he was propositioned by a giant and had to be rescued by Namur, and the many, many times a man named Shanks had tried to woo Marco over to his crew the way one would woo a lover, apparently it was a running gag.

She was about to cry for laughing at some of the things Cas told her, with Stern, Gerald, and some of the others piping up once in a while for their own stories. She could see Marco eyeing the table more than a little bit warily and nearly choked on her water when Cas sent him a cheeky smile and a wave.

He gently patted her back, to ease her coughing, offering her a grin, “What about you? Got any interesting stories to tell us?”

“It doesn’t have to be embarrassing if you don’t want it to be,” Gerald offered immediately, “It could just be something interesting.”

Frowning Violetta thought for a second before her eyes lit on Sessha and she grinned, “Would you like to hear about the time I slew a basilisk?”

“A basilisk?” Cas repeated confused, “What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s a snake, about the size of the big male Yuda earlier, a bit bigger and just as poisonous, only Basilisks have a gaze that kills if you look into their eyes,” she told them.

“Something like that doesn’t actually exist… does it?” Gerald asked skeptically.

“I swear they do, though normally they don’t actually get to that size, the one I fought was said to be over a thousand years old,” she explained, amused by their disbelieving looks, “Plus there are pretty specific circumstances that have to occur in order for one to be hatched in the first place, so they’re extremely rare.”

“Might as well tell the story,” Stern told her with a shrug, “It’ll be a good yarn if nothing else.”

She did so, though she carefully edited out the bits about Voldemort, hinting he was more of the inherited owner of the beast, which he had been in a way, while also leaving out magic, horcruxes, and the fact that she had been twelve at the time. Despite the editing it was still an interesting story.

She made sure to include how valiant Fawkes had been, tearing out its eyes, and then healing her after she accidentally got herself stabbed with one of the fangs.

“You don’t believe me?” she asked amused, seeing the interested though skeptical looks around the table, “And here I even have the scar to prove it, I might even still have a fang laying around.”

“A scar?” Stern asked interestedly.

She nodded and rolled up her sleeve, bearing the circle of scar tissue near the crook of her elbow and showing them how it went all the way through her arm, and Cas whistled obviously impressed.

“I’m also immune to poisons now, because of the phoenix tears and basilisk venom in my blood too,” she told them with a shrug, “So it ended up working out for me pretty well, even if it hurt like hell at the time.”

“I’ll say, any other fun adventures?” Cas asked interestedly.

“Well I smuggled a Dragon once,” she admitted, and proceeded to tell the table some of her lighter stories from her years at Hogwarts, keeping her magic out of it as best she could.

“Sounds like you’ve led quite the life, you might just be suited to the Grand Line, if even half what you’ve told be true,” Stern told her with a grin.

“True, we were a bit concerned, rumor had it that you were not from the area, and from your stories we can conclude this is in fact true, we were anxious you wouldn’t be able to handle the stress of the Grand Line and all her terrors and adventures, which is why we set out to test your mettle yesterday,” Gerald explained a slightly guilty look on his face.

“That’s alright,” she assured him, “Like I told Cas yesterday you were obviously only looking out for your Commander and brother. I can’t begrudge you that.”  
“If it helps you passed with flying colors yesterday,” Cas told her seriously, “I actually wasn’t expecting Marco’s reaction to that, though I probably should’ve, it was good of you to step in.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she told him firmly, “We’re good now aren’t we?”

“We are,” he confirmed, “Though will probably continue to push you a bit, so far speaking for myself at least I like what I see. I think you and Marco will be good for each other, you’re well balanced, and I like what I’ve seen of your interactions, and I like that you had the grit to come over here all by yourself.”

The others nodded in agreement, or voice quiet affirmations and she smiled softly, “Thank you, it means a lot to me that you’re giving me a chance. I’ll try not to let you down.”

“Don’ worry about it,” Stern ordered, once more spraying food, “Instead tell us more about you, the important stuff, like your favorite food.”

Violetta laughed and obliged, happily taking turns learning more about the people around her. She got introduced to several more people, Mick, who was apparently an accomplished pickpocket, Crane, who had a lovely baritone singing voice, Jackson who liked to wrestle seakings and so many more.

They were a rowdy loud bunch, and she was reminded of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs she’d seen pass through in her Hogwarts years, cheerful, mostly outgoing, and full of companionship, and was shocked to find herself swept up into their pace as they did everything from recount adventures, to give her advice about life on the Grand Line, to promising to teach her the things she needed to know, or giving her a spot to come to hide from Marco if she ever wanted to get away from him for a bit.

She enjoyed their company immensely, the atmosphere so much more joyful and true than her time as a student at Hogwarts had ever been, surrounded by traitors as she had been, and swept into death defying adventures.

Caught up as she was, she did notice when Mick, tired of having food spat on him by Stern, launched a spoonful of peas at the blonde. Unfortunately his aim was thrown off by Crane accidentally knocking into his elbow just as he was releasing, and the spoonful instead caught Jackson square in the face.

“Jackson immediately retaliated with a forkful of mashed potatoes, some of which landed in Stern’s drink. Unhappy Stern chucked his drink at Jackson, but the contents splashed all over Cas and Gerald, poor Gerald was apparently at the end of his rope and smashed the remains of his plate into Stern’s face.

Cas howled with laughter, but was cut off by Stern tossing his own plate at him, which he definitely shouldn’t have done with gravy dripping into his eyes, because he ended up hitting Violetta instead.

Violetta froze in shock, as the plate slowly slid down her face and into her lap with a wet _splat_. She could feel something cold trickling down her cheek, and she twitched, sending several sliced carrots, which had been sticking to her face like strange spots, tumbling into her lap. Slowly she reached a hand up to carefully swipe the fruit salad away from her eyes.

When she looked up she could see the entire table staring at her in shock, and she narrowed her eyes at Stern who looked torn between horror and laughter, “Oh, it is so on.”

That said she immediate chucked a handful of the mush she’d scraped off her face straight into his, then grabbing some jello from her plate hit Cas, Jackson, Gerald, Crane and Mick in quick succession. All of them quickly turned on her and she ducked out of the way, and it seemed like a signal, because all at once food was flying everywhere.

Sessha immediately removed herself from around her waist with an unhappy grimace and slithered away, apparently off to see Marco if what she was hissing was any indication, but Violetta didn’t pay too much attention, knowing the little Yuda would be fine on her own most of her attention focused on the food flying through the air.

At first it was just the First Division, the food flinging contained to their table, but it didn’t take long for one of the other tables to get hit in the crossfire, and soon the entire Dining Hall was a writhing mass of thrown food, silverware, plates, hell even some tables went flying as they descended into a hearty brawl.

And as terrifying as that should’ve been no weapons were actually being used, and everyone was smiling, and Violetta couldn’t help her laughter, even as Cas dragged her behind a makeshift fortress of tables the First Division had cobbled together as they rallied around one another and the fight became Division vs. Division.

She picked up pretty much anything that came to hand to throw, and Mick had apparently noticed her aim because he was quick to hand her things. At one point their entire Division had been pinned by a couple of the others, until she’d popped her head up over their barrier, spotted the leaders, and made two excellent shots, getting the one she thought was Blamenco in the gut with a nice big steak, and the one called Curiel right in the face with a hefty improvised gravy bomb that Mick had handed her.

“What is going on here?!” A voice bellowed through the Dining Hall, and immediately everyone froze.

Peering carefully over their shelter she saw the imposing figure of Whitebeard standing in the doorway, arms crossed, and mustache twitching slightly, with a nearly spotless Marco, with Sessha wrapped around one arm, Thatch and Izo next to him.

“Tattle-tale,” she hissed under her breath to Cas who snickered in surprise, but nodded in agreement.

Slowly everyone lowered whatever they had in their hands, and lined themselves up in front of Whitebeard who was watching them all, face carefully blank. Glancing around she noted nearly five hundred people had apparently been part of their impromptu food fight, and fought the urge to smirk.

They were then treated to a lecture by the Captain, who reminded them of the importance of food on the high seas, how hard their poor chefs had worked and so on. By the end she felt a little guilty, especially when she saw the sad face Thatch was making as he eyed the food on the walls and floor.

“So, does anyone want to take responsibility for this mess?” Whitebeard asked sternly.

Hesitantly Violetta began to raise her hand, feeling bad for the mess, especially since it seemed like it was kind of was her fault, since even though she hadn’t thrown the first food, she had thrown back, and escalated the situation. However the hand she was trying to raise was immediately grabbed and forced back down to her side by Stern, and a hand was clamped over her mouth by Cas.

She tried to protest, but was quickly dog piled by several members of the First Division. She let out a wheezing breath as someone landed on top of her and decided to just go limp and concede to their wishes. Glancing up she noticed their scuffle had been noticed by pretty much everyone who were now watching them with interest.

“Way to be subtle idiots,” Cas hissed in annoyance to the group, even though he’d been one of the first to grab her.

“Is there something you’d like to say Violetta?” Whitebeard asked with a single raised brow.

Someone, she was pretty sure it was Jackson, carefully removed his hand, which smelled like some strange mix of fruit and steak from her mouth, and she looked up at the imposing Captain from underneath the pile of First Division members and sighed.

“Only that I think I have mashed potatoes in places mashed potatoes were never meant to go,” she told him with her best put upon expression and a long suffering sigh. Whitebeard’s mustache twitched once, then twice, and then he erupted in belly shaking laughter.

The sound was distinctive and like nothing she’d ever heard, his Gurarara, echoing through the room over everyone elses’ as they joined in the laughter, and she smiled, even as she wriggled her way out from underneath everyone. Standing she caught Marco’s eye and even he was smirking in amusement. Feeling more childish than she ever really had she promptly stuck her tongue out at him, making him full out grin at her, shaking his head in exasperated amusement.

In the end their only punishment was to clean up the mess they’d made, and a slight portion of their pay would be docked to help replace the food they’d wasted. Marco tried to get her to leave, but she instead settled down between Cas and Gerald working on scrubbing the floors clean, insisting that Marco should join them and take responsibility for them as it wassoulmate and Division who’d started everything. Especially since he’d been one of the ones to rat them out to Whitebeard.

He’d sighed but rolled up his sleeves and got to work with them, though not before receiving a messy hug and kiss on the cheek from her, since he wasn’t nearly as dirty as the rest of them, and she felt he should join them in this, as a group solidarity thing. Which made everyone watching howl with laughter.

After Namur and a couple of the other fishman pirates had kindly hosed everyone off, so they wouldn’t be spreading the mess as they cleaned

As they worked she was surprised but pleased to be approached by a number of people, all introducing themselves and welcoming her to the crew, all of them seemingly approving of her and her participation in the food fight that she’d been assured would ‘Go down in Whitebeard Pirate history’. 

“Your girl there’s got quite the aim,” the Division Commander she’d nailed in the face informed Marco as they worked together to scrub one of the tables their group had been using as shelter from the flying food and utensils, “Got me right between the eyes.”

“I’m Curiel by the way,” he told her offering her a hand, which she shook politely, “You ever shot a gun before?”

“No, guns aren’t a big thing where I’m from,” she admitted with a smile, “But I am a decent shot, one of the best where I came from.”

“That so?” Curiel asked clear interest on his face, “Don’t suppose you’d be up for a show sometime, or maybe even a little competition? I’m one of the best Marksmen on the Grand Line after all.”

Violetta was trying to think of a way to politely turn him down, knowing she couldn’t use her magic that openly yet when Mick butted in, “Of course she will! Our Vi will blow you away Curiel!”

“That’s righ’!” Stern shouted eagerly, “Don’ mess with the lady Curiel, she’ll throw you down!”

Off to her right Cas started up a chant of her name, which the rest of the Division took up with eager cries and she huffed a laugh, “Well with that kind of support how could I say no?”

Raucous cheering not just from the First Division but from everyone who’d been listening filled the galley.

“You sure about that ~yoi?” Marco whispered quietly for her ears alone, “Curiel’s a damn good shot, no shame in backing out, don’t let the idiots pressure you.”

“I’ll be fine, just a friendly competition right?” she asked quietly and he nodded, wrapping his arms around her waist and squeezing gently, careful of Sessha who’d wrapped herself around her neck after she was clean again, grumbling about strange humans and Fawkes, who was perched on Marco’s shoulder where he’d stayed throughout everything.

“Very well, I’ll get things set up and get back to you,” Curiel told her with a grin, everyone cheered and they got back to cleaning with cheerful banter not flowing between the First Division and the others, and Violetta was touched by their faith in her, smiling as she worked, feeling surprisingly at home as she listened to their happy chatter.

…~oO*Oo~…

By the time they finished cleaning the Dining Hall it was late, and Marco wasn’t at all surprised that all his soulmate wanted to do was shower and fall into bed. It had been a long and eventful day after all. He was more than a little surprised though, as after she climbed on to the bed she rolled herself up on to her side to face him, propping her head up with her arm and heaving a sigh.

“Something wrong ~yoi?” he asked concerned.

“Not wrong per se,” she told him with a slight frown, “It’s just. I was looking forward to playing our little question game again today and with all the excitement we never really got around to it.”

“We could still do that,” Marco assured her, hand automatically reaching for her and gently stroking her arm, “As long as you’re not too tired.”

“Mm,” she agreed then yawned as if to belay that agreement, “Maybe just a few.”

He nodded in agreement and decided to go first, “How did you get such good aim, if not shooting something?”

He’d intended it to be a fairly lighthearted question, thinking back on what Curiel had told him in the Dining Hall but from the way she stiffened slightly in his arms, it hadn’t been as light as he’d hoped. He was about to retract the question when she heaved a sigh.

“Honestly? It’s mostly from the war, you didn’t see it, because I didn’t use any in my demonstration, but most spells actually look like streaks of colored light. They aren’t exactly wide area effect things for the most part, and so you have to have good accuracy in order to actually hit your target. In the war, we dueled and if you couldn’t aim or dodge you died simple as that,” she told him tiredly.

He grimaced but nodded in understanding, honestly he was kind of wishing he’d asked something else now. He hadn’t meant to dredge up those memories, especially right before bed.

“What’s your favorite Dessert?” she asked with a mischievous smile, probably in reference to the melted ice cream she’d smeared all over him when she hugged him earlier, effectively lightening the conversation once more.

“I enjoy mochi, though only sometimes, I’m not a big fan of sweets very often,” he told her amused, “What’s your favorite season?”

“Fall,” she told him immediately, “Not as hot as summer, not as cold as winter, and not as much rain as spring. Plus I like the colors the leaves turn, and back when I was young, before everything, I always looked forward to going back to school in the fall.”

He nodded and made note of several autumn islands he thought she might like, hoping he’d get the chance to show her every single one of them.

“What’s your favorite time of day?” she asked interrupting his thoughts before they could turn melancholy at the thought that he might not get to if she decided not to stay.

“Mm, I like mornings ~yoi,” he told her, “It’s the only quiet time of day aboard the Moby, and watching the sun rise from one of the crows’ nests, or as I fly around above the ship. It’s peaceful, a time when I don’t have to worry about anything.”

“You said you liked school, so what’s your favorite subject?” he prompted into the lazy quiet, knowing she had to be getting really tired, her yawns coming more and more frequently. It was cute, the way she was fighting to stay awake and talk to him.

“We had a class called Care of Magical Creatures, that was taught by one of the very few people who never betrayed me, a dear friend of mine, the first I made in the Magical World,” she told him with a fond smile.

“He was a half-giant named Hagrid, and well, because Giants are tougher than humans he didn’t have nearly the sense of danger that the rest of us did,” she laughed a bit ruefully, “He was always bringing extremely dangerous animals to class, showing them off, cooing over them like they were adorable little puppies and kittens instead of extremely dangerous animals more than capable of killing or maiming us.”

“I suppose that’s where you got your love of animals from then ~yoi,” he told her wryly, indicating the still small Fawkes, who was asleep on his make-shift perch by the desk, his head tucked under a wing, and Sessha who had taken a liking to the box Marco had tried to get the Phoenix to stay in earlier and was curled up in it. She giggled sleepily and he counted that as a win.

“Speaking of animals, where did you get your Devil’s Fruit?” she asked and Marco stiffened in surprise. Of all the questions he’d thought she might ask that hadn’t been one, though he probably should’ve expected it.

“Marco?” she asked concerned, looking much more awake now then she had a few seconds ago, eyeing him worriedly, “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

He sighed, it wasn’t something he liked to talk about, but considering how open and honest she’d been with him it was only fair to do the same, despite not wanting to relive the memories.

“When I was very young,” he began quietly, softly, “The man who sired me acquired a huge debt. He was a drunk and a gambler. My mother had died long ago, and left me with him, and while he was an asshole he was all I had really. I thought, maybe that he felt the same way, sometimes it seemed like he was almost fond of me, most times though I was more like an unwanted burden, despite the fact that I pretty much looked after myself.”

“Anyway, he must not have been as fond of me as I thought he was,” he told her gently stroking her arm with his hands, taking comfort in her presence, “Because in order to pay off his debts he sold me to slavers.”

She hissed in shock, sitting bolt upright on the bed and gaping down at him in shock and concern, “There’s human slavery in this world?”

“Yes and no,” he answered grimly, “Technically speaking it’s considered illegal, but in this world if you have noble blood, or are part of the clan who was said to have brought the oceans in under their command, a group called the Celestial Dragons, then the Marines look the other way.”

“What?!” she demanded fury clear on her face.

“It’s not something we as Whitebeard pirates tend to have to deal with, as we’re strong enough generally to fight off slavers, and we’re always careful to never go anywhere alone when we land on islands frequented by slave traders,” he told her, trying to offer some comfort. 

“Plus Oyaji doesn’t allow that kind of thing in his territory, but others do ~yoi,” Marco explained grimly, “Unfortunately other than carefully controlling our part of the sea there’s not a whole lot we can do about it, while we’re strong, we’re not sure we could win in an all out battle against the Marines and all their allies, and the potential losses…”

He shook his head sadly, “It wouldn’t be worth it, not now at least, and Oyaji is getting older, he’s pretty set in his ways now, though we do make it a point to free any slaves we come across, and slavers know they’ll be killed on sight if we come across them.”

“I guess that’s better than nothing,” she told him with a sigh, settling back down on the bed and scooting closer to him gently nudging until he moved on to his back, and she could settle across his chest, her head over his heart, holding him, offering what comfort she could, “And I have no right to judge really.”

He accepted her gesture, wrapping his arms around her slender body, running his hands up and down her back, taking in what comfort he could, and silently wondering what had made her so melancholy, but figuring it wasn’t the time to ask. He still had her question to answer after all. Heaving a sigh he continued.

“Anyway, he sold me, when I was… about twelve I think, and I was bought by one of the Celestial Dragons, for a hundred thousand belli, apparently it was all I was worth,” he told her unable to help the bitterness in his voice. She squeezed him in response and he huffed a sigh pressing his lips to her hair glad to have her comfort as he dredged up the most difficult part of his life.

“The Celestial Dragons, well they’re disgusting people, they think they’re entitled to anything they want because of their ancestry, slaves are like toys to them,” he explained quietly, “They liked to make us fight each other, or play games with us, I once saw a mermaid ripped apart by carnivorous fish as entertainment, they enjoyed make us eat or drink dangerous things just to see what happened, or experimenting on us. It was hell. I can’t think of any better word to describe it but sheer hell.”

“Unfortunately there wasn’t anything anyone could do to fight back, see Celestial Dragons, or at least the ones I saw are weak as civilians, unable to fight really, the problem is their political power and their ability to call down the full force of the marines on anyone who so much as looks at them the wrong way,” he explained.

“And no one dared trying to escape, because they made us wear these collars, the collars had a bomb in them, and if they detonated it was instant death for the wearer. Some Devil Fruit users might have been able to survive it, but if they know you have a fruit power they line the collar with seastone to keep you from escaping, and even if you did manage to escape the collars, every single slave is marked when they are brought it,” he grimaced his arms tightening slightly at the memory.

“They brand you, like cattle, with their mark, they call it the hoof of the Celestial Dragon,” he explained distastefully, “And if that mark is ever seen by anyone it’s the duty of the person to report the escaped slave to the marines, who then drag you back to the Celestial Dragons, most chose to die first. Not that I can blame them.”

“Anyway, as part of their experimentation, they like to see what Devil Fruits do when they find them, and so several slaves are forcibly fed the things for entertainment’s sake,” he explained quietly.

“I was chosen for that when I was about fifteen I think, though the dates were hard to keep track of in the slave cages,” he told her, “I was dragged before the man who bought me, and I wish I could say it was kicking and screaming, but I’d long since had that reaction beaten out of me.”

“They fed me the fruit, shoved it into my mouth, and held my nose and lips shut until I swallowed, it was the nastiest thing I’d ever eaten, and considering the rotted sludge the liked to feed their slaves that’s saying something,” he told her with a bitter laugh.

“Immediately after I could feel my body changing, shifting, and suddenly I was a strange shape, one that I didn’t understand a bit, I admit I panicked,” he said quietly, “I stumbled around the room knocking into everything and anything, and all around me I remember people were shouting, and that’s when I heard it this huge sickening crunch and a loud boom, and the pain, there was so much pain.”

“And then suddenly there wasn’t it was gone again, and blue flames were leaping in front of my eyes, and I had these new instincts, screaming in my head to flee, so I did. I threw myself right out of a window, and suddenly found myself flying away, going as far and as long as I could before collapsing on a nearby island. Thinking back I was pretty lucky to find it, and not end up falling into the sea and drowning.”

“It wasn’t until much later, when I really sat down to think about it that I realized what had happened,” he explained clutching her tightly his eyes unseeing as the images of that day flashed before his eyes.

“When you’re fed the Devil Fruit they want to see what it does, so they don’t give you a seastone collar because that would ruin the whole point of the exercise,” he elaborated, “When I panicked and started bumbling about, not listening to what they were saying, the Celestial Dragon either thought I was attacking, or just decided the easiest thing to do would be to get rid of me. The pain was from the collar going off.”

“The only reason I can think of that I survived was because I was in full phoenix mode, the collar didn’t fit properly, and I was able to heal instantly and without thought, otherwise I probably would’ve died that day. If it had been any other fruit I’m not sure I would have survived.”

“In the end though it got me my freedom, and for that I’m grateful,” he told her gently stroking her hair, “And it’s why I understood so well when you said you’d rather die than be caged again. I feel the same way.”

…~oO*Oo~…

Violetta digested his story and clung to him, taking it all in. It seemed Fate really had known what she was doing when she soul mated the two of them. They were pretty evenly matched for suffering. Still…

“It’s not fair,” she murmured into his chest.

“What isn’t fair ~yoi?” Marco asked gently.

“It’s not fair you had to suffer so much,” her grip on him tightened reflexively and he sighed, clutching her far tighter than was comfortable in response, not that she was about to protest, “All this time, when I was fighting in that war I comforted myself with the fact that I hadn’t found you yet, which meant you weren’t there with me, suffering the way I was suffering, you were safe wherever you were, but you weren’t were you, not really.”

“Now that’s not true,” he told her comfortingly gently taking her face in his hand and lifting so she was forced to look him in the eyes, “You’ve forgotten how old I am. While you were fighting I was here, with Oyaji, and I was happy and as safe as I was going to get without you.”

“And I like to think that maybe it was worth it,” he carried on, and she frowned in response, confused.

“After all if I had never been a slave, if I never got that fruit, I would never have met Oyaji. I might even have never met _you_ ,” he explained seriously, “I’m an old man remember? Sixty-three, if I hadn’t eaten that fruit I would’ve looked it and felt it too, you wouldn’t have wanted an old geezer as your soulmate ~yoi.”

“Don’t be stupid,” she hissed fiercely pushing herself up so she could hover over him, “You’re my soulmate, my other half. I would want you no matter what you looked like or how old you appeared.”

His teal eyes were blown wide with surprise, apparently not expecting her fervent denial and eventually he huffed, giving in, a soft look on his face as he cupped her cheek in his palm, running his thumb gently along her cheekbone in a tender caress.

“That might be so, but I doubt you would’ve looked at me the same way,” he countered lightly then elaborated, “With that heated look that makes me want to do things to you I have no right to be thinking about so early on in our relationship.”

She could feel herself flushing and quickly dropped herself back down and buried her face into his chest to hide the color, and escape his teasing gaze. She felt more than heard him chuckle underneath her, and she pinched him lightly in retaliation.

He jerked then huffed in amusement, wrapping her tightly in his arms once more, shifting them both into a more comfortable position, letting out a soft sigh. She yawned again, the intense emotion she’d felt during Marco’s story, which had kept her awake, fading enough to make her sleepy again in the wake of their soft banter.

“Sleep ~yoi,” he urged her his own voice slightly rough, “We’ll talk more in the morning.”

She nodded, too tired to argue and settled in against his chest, allowing her eyes to close, and sleep to claim her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the second Monster Chapter! This thing is probably going to be like novel length by the time it's done...  
> I was seriously not expecting this to be nearly as popular as it was! Over a hundred Kudos seriously? Thank you! I'm really glad people seem to like them, though I won't be posting any new Soulmate ones until after I finish this one, ~~As long as my muse cooperates and doesn't decide to take off on me~~.
> 
> If you're interested I will be posting of Previews of some of my plot bunnies over on my Tumblr account, some of which will hopefully eventually end up over here as full fledged stories (like the one I posted this week, which wasn't supposed to be started yet, but I was convinced to write anyway lol).  
> Previews will ~~hopefully~~ be posted every Monday and will be tagged #PreviewMonday, feel free to check it out and ask questions, or request previews of things. Most of what I prefer to write can be found on my profile if you want to check it out :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes! My beta has finals this week and couldn't edit for me, but I still wanted to get the chapter up! Any mistakes are my own!

“Land Ho!”

The words didn’t actually perforate her conscious until she’d already rolled out of bed, hit the floor as had her wand in hand pointing at the door, adrenalin surging through her veins. She let out a shaky breath as she realized what had happened and went to run a hand through her hair, then cursed as her fingers got tangled up in the braid.

With an annoyed sigh she disentangled her fingers and turned to the bed half hoping Marco had slept through her little PTSD episode. No such luck. He was wide awake and looked like he was torn between amusement and concern. Eventually though he seemed to settle on concern.

“Are you alright ~yoi?” he asked gently.

“Well I might have some bruises,” she admitted keeping her voice light, “But other than that I’m alright. Did they say something about land?”

“Yeah, they must’ve spotted an island,” he told her with a slight frown, allowing the change in subject as she straightened from her crouch and sat back down on the bed.

“You sound worried,” she prompted carefully.

“Not worried, just… surprised,” he replied, “The Yuda must’ve taken quite a bit of time off our journey if we’re already approaching the island I’m thinking of.”

“Well that’s a good thing right?” she asked confused, he didn’t look very pleased by this new development. She didn’t really know him yet to be able to know what the expression on his face meant, the way soulbonded pairs usually could, but if she had to guess she’d say he looked worried, “I mean this way you can stock up on supplies. I think someone mentioned we were running a little short after the food fight.”

“Oyaji was thinking we might have to ration a little bit but nothing too serious ~yoi,” he assured her, apparently cottoning on to the slight guilt in her tone.

“So we will be able to restock here?” she questioned just to be sure.

“Yeah, this island is pretty well populated, and they know us here, since it’s part of our territory,” he answered with a shrug.

“Does that mean I’ll be able to explore for a bit then today?” she asked curious about finally seeing the land part of the strange world she’d landed in. She knew from the maps she’d seen that the majority of this world, much like her own, was ocean, though this one had even less land than hers did. Still she thought it could be pretty interesting.

“I’d be more than happy to show you around ~yoi,” he offered with an amused smile, “I was actually thinking the first island we got to I’d like to take you out somewhere just the two of us.”

“Like a date?” she clarified interested.

“Exactly like a date ~yoi,” he told her, “I know we’re going at things a bit sideways from the way soulmate relationships usually happen, because of the pirate thing, and you being from another world but I’d like to be able to give you some normalcy, thought it might be nice anyway.”

“It does sound nice,” she agreed instantly offering him a soft smile, “I’d love to go on a date with you.”

He grinned back at her, relief and joy clear on his face, and she wondered if he actually thought she might turn him down. She never would’ve. Despite the fact that they actually _had,_ had more time just the two of them than she ever would’ve expected given that they were on a ship in the middle of the ocean with over fifteen hundred other people, she still would never say no to more.

“How soon will we be at the island do you think?” she asked curiously, her excitement to finally have her feet back on solid ground for a while growing stronger by the second.

“Probably a couple of hours yet, but don’t worry,” he told her evidently spotting the slight flash of disappointment she’d felt, “You won’t be bored. After all you have Haki training to be doing this morning.”

She perked up at the reminder and grinned, “And you have magic to learn.”

He nodded in agreement a small smirk on his face, “So why don’t you get ready and the two of us can head up to the deck and get to learning. Despite the call most everyone will still be asleep, this will give us a better chance to work at this without an audience.”

“Good idea,” she told him already moving toward the bathroom to change and get her teeth and hair brushed, “Just give me five minutes.”

…~oO*Oo~…

Before they got started on Haki or magic she wanted to do some physical exercise, and so she had Marco lead a run around the decks of the Moby, and did several sets of different exercises while he did what appeared to be extreme versions of what she was doing.

For example when she was doing push-ups he was doing them one handed, or vertical, and much quicker and without nearly as many breaks. She probably would’ve been annoyed, except it was pretty obvious he was showing off for her, and the fact that he’d left his shirt behind certainly helped.

Her competitive nature meant she actually did far more than she normally would too, and pushed herself just that much harder, which was a good thing because if she was going to be staying in this world it was important to reach a respectable level of physical fitness in order to keep up with whatever dangers might come her way here.

Eventually they stopped though, deciding they’d better get on with it if they were going to get training done before the rest of the crew got up and about. Graciously, she decided to let Marco teach her first, since he seemed so adamant about her learning to protect herself yesterday.

“So how exactly am I going to get started with this?” she asked from her spot leaning against the railing of the small, private deck he’d taken her to their first day for their very first one on one talk.

“With this~ yoi,” Marco told her producing a narrow length of cloth from his pocket.

“A piece of cloth?” she enquired skeptically.

“A blindfold actually,” he replied with an amused smirk. 

“And blindfolding me has what to do with haki exactly?” she prompted puzzled.

“It’s for observation Haki, which is the type we’re going to start you with,” Marco told her patiently, “Observation haki is a bit like sensing remember? With it you can sense people’s locations, and eventually their intentions, to start with I’m going to have you try to locate me using that sense. The blindfold is just to keep you from cheating ~yoi.”

“Well that explains the rope, at least, to keep me from going down the stairs right?” she asked referring to the rope he’d strung up in the stairwell behind them blocking it off at about chest height.

“Well that and to keep my brothers away, we use this method for all our new recruits, so the rope lets them know to stay away so their presence doesn’t affect the training going on,” he explained seriously.

“Alright,” she agreed, feeling a bit nervous but also more than a bit excited to start learning, “let’s do this.”

He nodded, but instead of passing her the cloth carefully slid around behind her. The hairs on the back of her neck rose, as he looped the cloth carefully around her eyes, and tied it in a firm knot at the back of her head.

The loss of her vision made her feel surprisingly vulnerable, and she could feel her adrenalin rise, as her other senses strained to pick up the slack caused by her lack of vision. The first thing she noticed was his tantalizing cinders and sandalwood scent mixed as it was with the scent of salt water and fresh air. She could feel him standing behind her, just far away not to be touching her, his body radiating a heat she could feel all the way to the top of her skull.

She felt the hairs on her neck rise in response, and she shivered part of her wanting to step back into him, and the other part wanting to hold still and see if he’d come to her. The decision was taken out of her hands as something pressed lightly to her cheek. She nearly jumped out of her skin, and she could feel her cheeks beginning to burn as she realized he had just kissed her cheek.

“Come find me,” he urged her with a soft throaty chuckle that made her shiver again, as his breath brushed over the sensitive skin of her ear and neck and she was reminded how much she liked the sound of his voice.

Then he moved away, and she was surprised how silent he was, considering how tall he was, and the sandals he wore, which should’ve at least made some sort of scuffing sound against the deck. Honestly she was impressed.

Silence settled over the deck, with only the sound of seabirds and waves crashing against the hull to break it, with the occasional grumble of voices from the deck below. Her heart sounded loud in her ears, beating a steady tattoo against her ribs, with the sound of her breath a whooshing accompaniment. She realized suddenly that she was straining her ears for any sign of trace of him, which wasn’t what she was meant to be doing she was supposed to be trying to ‘sense’ him with some weird sort of sixth sense, not listening for him to make a noise.

The soft sound of wings nearby made her head tilt in confusion, yes Marco could fly but why would he do so now, when she would obviously be able to hear him. The answer of course was that he wouldn’t as a familiar warbling trill filled the silence, almost overly loud.

“Good morning to you too Fawkes,” she told the bird amused. He’d grown overnight, just big enough to fly again and had taken off the minute they’d opened the door, eager to stretch his wings. Now though he’d apparently decided to come check in on what they were doing. He cooed at her in response, very clearly confused.

“It’s training, I’m trying to learn how to sense others locations without my eyes,” she explained. He made a soft chucking noise in response, and she sighed in exasperation.

“Yes that’s why Marco’s perched over on the railing, and now he’s going to have to move since you told me where he was,” she informed him, both amused and annoyed, knowing he’d done it on purpose. She could hear Marco’s annoyed grumble about cheating birds, and a soft rustle before everything went silent again.

Honestly she should’ve known her familiar would poke his beak in eventually he was a nosy bird like that. She was just glad Sessha had taken one look at their retreating forms and decided she was going to sleep in, still feeling dozy from her healing yesterday.

Figuring she could go back to the exercise now, she once more concentrated, trying to feel, whatever unfathomable feeling she was supposed to be getting and coming up completely blank, when a warble cut though her thoughts.

“If you’re bored then go do something else,” she told her familiar with exaggerated patience, “I’m trying to concentrate, and you’re not helping.”

Fawkes made a sound so much like a human huff that it made her laugh, “Yes, yes I’ll play with you later okay, now go do something to entertain yourself, but mind your manners this time and be good.”

He chirped his agreement, and the sound of retreating wing beats let her know he was leaving the area, and she relaxed into her concentration again. Only nothing seemed to be happening. It was frustrating, that was for certain, but she’d long since learned some semblance of patience. Unfortunately it was slowly running out, the silence of the deck making her itch, her senses prickling anxiously.

“Violetta what are you doing ~yoi?” his voice was extremely close in the silence of the deck and she yelped, whirling in alarm to face the direction the voice had come from, clutching at her frantically beating heart.

“Don’t _do_ that!” she told him taking a deep gasping breath and steadying her nerves, reeling her magic back in and away from her soulmate from where it had attempted to lash out at him, “I nearly hit you with that!”

“What was it?” he asked, his voice sounded a bit dazed though it was hard to tell with the blindfold still on.

“Instinctual magic,” she told him flatly, “Some call it accidental magic, I mentioned to you before that children do that when they’re young and get emotional. Adults can do it to, but generally only when they are really truly terrified out of their minds and sometimes not even then. However like I mentioned I’m stronger than most, and that combined with my leftover war instincts means mine tends to be on a hair trigger.”

“You’re lucky,” she admitted wryly, “My first instinct is to incapacitate rather than to kill, and so that’s how my magic tends to react too, though for the most part it’s completely out of my control.”

“I see ~yoi,” he told her, wisely deciding not to push the issue further, and she could hear him take deliberate steps toward her. Knowing what she did now of how silently he could move when he wanted to she knew they were for her benefit and felt warmed by it. She was still a little surprised when he reached out and pulled her into his arms, but not so much that she didn’t twine her own arms around him in response after a few seconds of recovery, burying her face in his chest in a move that was becoming familiar, breathing him in.

“So what was it you were doing then?” he asked going back to his original question.

“I was trying to find you?” she offered confused, “What else would I be doing?”

“Normally when we introduce new recruits to this exercise they start walking around,” Marco told her an amused tint to his voice that let her know that it didn’t tend to end well for said recruits.

“Well I’ve never claimed to be normal,” she informed him lightly.

“You certainly are special ~yoi,” he agreed so clearly sincere and in awe that she was glad he couldn’t see her face, knowing it had tinged pink in surprise.

“Yeah well, my method didn’t seem to be working so well,” she grumbled doing her best to avert the subject and hide her embarrassment, “I didn’t have a clue what I was supposed to be doing.”

“Haki is about willpower,” Marco explained to her, “Which is why generally with those new recruits it’s a good thing they bumble around because the more self incurred injuries they get, or the more embarrassing things they do the more they want to find their trainer.”

“Why do I get the feeling this is usually done with an audience?” she asked dryly.

“Well, we have to entertain ourselves somehow ~yoi,” he told her clearly amused, “Plus sometimes frustration can make willpower stronger, though admittedly it sometimes has the opposite effect as well…”

“I suppose I should just be grateful I was spared that little bit of humiliation,” she told him wrinkling her nose in distaste, “So willpower huh? That’s a bit like magic I suppose. I guess I was so focused on trying to sense you or reaching out with some mysterious sense that I forgot about the willpower aspect.”

“Would you like to try again?” he prompted.

“Sure,” she told him with a sigh, “I might try bumbling around a bit too, see if that helps, just make sure I don’t trip over the railing or something alright?”

“Of course,” he assured her with a soft chuckle, releasing her then stepping back, “Give me five seconds then go when you’re ready.”

Unfortunately despite her running into several things and gaining some bruises, she didn’t feel like she’d made any headway whatsoever in the attempt to use Haki. She almost would’ve thought the whole thing was a hoax if Marco hadn’t traded places with her, and always found her effortlessly, even when she climbed up into the rigging. Still seeing his demonstration just made her that much more determined to master the useful skill.

However she cut it off after his demo, deciding she’d let her poor abused shins recover for a bit, and start teaching Marco the magic she’d promised before too many people woke and they were forced to stop so her magic wouldn’t be revealed to a wider audience.

“So,” she told him with a smile, “I’ve thought of a few spells I figured might be useful to a pirate or just in general really, the easiest one of which I need some stuff for so it’ll have to wait, but we can start with one of my favorites.”

“It’s called the summoning spell, and is one of the few I can do pretty much without thought and without a wand. These days I only tend to use my wand for fiddly stuff where I have to concentrate really hard, but you’ll probably need it so I’ll demonstrate my way, and then the way you’ll need to practice until you get it down,” she told him with a grin.

He smiled back, apparently amused by her enthusiasm and gestured for her to go ahead.

Spotting a nearby bottle, probably left by an absent minded or drunk crew member she held out her hand and twitched her fingers. It soared through the air and landed neatly in her palm. She turned to look at Marco and saw his eyes lit with interest and smiled.

“As you can imagine, extremely useful, not only for grabbing things that are out of reach, but also if you’ve lost something and know it’s nearby you can summon that to you as well. The bigger, heavier or further away the object the more difficult the spell is and the more power you have to use,” she explained, slipping into the same mode of speech she used to teach her Defense students at Hogwarts.

“This particular spell is all about focus, you have to see the object you want to bring in your mind’s eye and essentially pull it towards you, as you can imagine this is much harder when the object isn’t within your line of vision, however the more familiar you are with the object the easier it becomes,” she went on, lightly setting the bottle down on the ground and backing away to get some distance.

“Now, the wand movement for the spell is this,” she brought her wand out from its holster and swished it toward herself almost as it she was waving someone over, demonstrating the gesture both in slow motion and at speed, “And the incantation is Accio.”

“Like so,” she intoned the word and made the gesture simultaneously and again the bottle flew towards her, she caught it neatly in one hand then held her wand out to Marco who accepted it eagerly. Setting the bottle down she backed away and gestured for him to have at.

Unfortunately he seemed to be having as much luck with it as she did with her Observation Haki, and while it was difficult to tell, as stoic as his face tended to be, she thought he was probably getting frustrated.

“Magic is all about focus and belief,” she told him, from her spot sitting on the railing, “I think part of the problem you’re having is that the gesture and incantation don’t actually help you focus, so instead try this.”

“Do you remember how it felt when you used the Lumos spell?” she asked, waiting until she received a firm nod in return.

“So what you’re going to do is simply point the wand at the bottle, and try to focus on that feeling, visualize the bottle in your mind and see it coming towards you while holding on to that feeling, use the incantation whenever you feel ready,” she instructed.

Marco nodded, and she could see him eyeing the bottle carefully, absently she wondered if he eyed his opponents on the battlefield in the same way and forced down a smile, not wanting him to think she was laughing at him. Finally he pointed the wand at the bottle and said the incantation. It didn’t fly through the air, but it did twitch and fall over, which was far more than it had been doing previously. 

“Well done!” she told him with a grin, “progress! That was actually more than I was expecting for just a morning’s work.”

He looked at her surprised.

“I told you, I didn’t pick easy spells to teach you mostly because the easiest spells are kind of useless, like turning a matchstick into a needle and back, so it was going to take a while,” she explained with a grin, “Plus this isn’t the easiest spell I wanted to teach you remember? I didn’t learn that spell until my fourth year of schoolwork, that you’ve managed to make progress with less than two full hours of any sort of magical tuition under your belt is impressive.”

“It was certainly interesting ~yoi,” he told her looking rather pleased with himself, “Unfortunately we probably better stop, people are starting to wake, and soon the deck will be bustling.”

She nodded in agreement, and allowed him to lead the way back to his room.

…~oO*Oo~…

“So how did training go this morning?” Thatch asked from down the table.

“Training? You started her on Haki and didn’t invite us?” Stern asked with an unconvincing pout.

“Oh? I hadn’t realized you and the others wanted to rise at five in the morning for training every day you should’ve said something ~yoi,” Marco told him raising an eyebrow in challenge at his Division member who immediately blanched and backed down. Stern could wake up that early, but the rest of his Division wouldn’t be happy with him if Marco followed through on the implied threat. He’d done it before after all.

“You make your soulmate get up to train at five in the morning?” Thatch demanded incredulously. He was an early riser by necessity considering he and his Division were in charge of meals for the most part and breakfast had to be done before everyone else woke up. It didn’t mean he enjoyed it though, “You are a cruel, cruel being.”

“I’m an early riser,” Violetta put in amused. She’d opted for a position across the table from him this time instead of next to him, and while he enjoyed being able to look up and see her face easily, he hadn’t been to happy with the loss of the ability to pull her into his side, sling an arm around her shoulders, and generally just get his hands on her. She’d either felt the same way or cottoned on to how he felt because not even a minute after they’d taken their seats her legs had stretched out and were now twined with his under the table.

“Ugh there are two of them,” Cas grunted clearly not amused. His second in command wasn’t a morning person to say the least. He didn’t like to rise earlier than noon if he could help it, and even then talking to him was a no go until he’d had at least two cups of coffee, though if he’d at least had one your head would stay attached to your shoulders he’d just answer any sort of talk with a series of grunts cavemen would be proud of.

The only reason he and some of the others were even present was because they were looking forward to their landing. The island they were coming up on was a Summer one, but it was the middle of fall for this particular island so it would be warm without blistering and there should be some nice breezes, all in all a pleasant place to be stopping.

“What are your plans for the day?” Gerald asked politely, one of the few who looked passably awake, his suit just as pressed and wrinkle free as ever.

“We’re going to look around for a bit, take in the sights, Violetta has never been to this island before ~yoi,” Marco explained with a casual shrug, not bothering to note that Violetta had never been to any Grand Line island before, so it was sure to be interesting, even if this particular island was fairly tame in comparison to some of the others out there.

“Oh going on a date huh?” Thatch asked eagerly, unfortunately immediately capturing the attention of everyone in the vicinity, who perked up and looked over. Marco loved his brothers but they were a nosy lot, and he knew if he confirmed anything they’d be popping up all day trying to get a look in on what they were doing.

Under normal circumstances he probably would’ve been amused by this behavior, but this wasn’t a normal situation. He’d been hit with a sense of urgency ever since the lookout had called that there was land in the distance this morning. Normally it would’ve taken three more days of travel to reach the island from where they’d been because there was very little wind and the currents weren’t in their favor. The Yuda had been a great help in this, moving the Moby far faster than she would’ve gone under those circumstances. 

On one hand Violetta was right this morning to say it was probably a good thing considering they would’ve needed to ration their supplies today if they hadn’t arrived. On the other, three days off from their journey were three less days he’d have to convince his soulmate to stay with him on the Moby before they reached Sōkutsu island, where the retired Whitebeard’s retired members, soulmates and children stayed.

It was why he’d wanted to take the time while they were on this island to spend it just the two of them. He figured the more one on one time with her he had the more likely he was to convince her she wanted to stay with him. He’d told her she could do whatever she wanted back on the first day and he’d meant it, he still meant it, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt if she chose not to stick around the Moby with him.

It would be even worse if she decided she didn’t want to stay on Sōkutsu. If she stayed there he’d at least be able to visit semi-regularly, if not there was a chance he’d never see her again. The thought made his heart clench uncomfortably tight. He wasn’t in love with her yet, it had only been two days, but he could be. It would be easy to fall in love with a woman like Violetta, but the problem wasn’t him loving her, it was her loving him.

He knew he was going to have to work through some of her hard earned trust issues for her to consider loving him, and losing time to do it wasn’t helping. He just hoped his siblings for once would butt out and let him work what he could in what little time he’d have between now and their arrival at Sōkutsu.

“Well you’ll have to be back here by five, date or no date,” Cas informed them grumpily from his seat, taking another long drink from his extra large coffee cup.

“Five? Isn’t that a bit early for curfew?” Violetta asked clearly amused, “Speaking of I didn’t realize pirates had a curfew.”

“It’s not curfew it’s when the party starts!” Stern told her jovially, “Can’t start it without the guests of honor!”

“Party?” she repeated blankly.

“Aye lass! Party!” Mick told her eagerly, “For you and Commander Marco, we have one every time a family member finds his soulmate, that it’s Commander Marco means it’ll be even bigger than usual.”

“I see…” Violetta told him in a way that clearly meant she didn’t see at all, and was more than a bit confused, and maybe a little concerned as well. Once more Marco cursed that she’d chosen to sit across from him, and not next to him where he could offer physical comfort more easily.

“The crew will take any excuse to party ~yoi,” he assured her firmly.

“Well yeah I mean, there are so many reasons to celebrate,” Thatch put in eagerly.

“Finding soulmates, a really good fight, meetings with friends and allies, birthdays, though we got limited down to one big birthday party a month because otherwise we’d be partying every day, we party for all those reasons and sometimes for no reason at all,” Jackson listed off for her.

“Though we still have smaller in Division celebrations sometimes anyways, and we always celebrate our Commander’s birthdays in our own special way,” Gerald put in calmly.

“We’re pirates,” Crane told her with good humor seeing her extremely bemused expression and apparently trying to further explain, “We’re free to do whatever we want so why not celebrate and have fun? If the hangovers weren’t so bad, and we had the funds, and didn’t like adventuring, fighting, and sailing as much as we do we would be partying all the time!”

That apparently only served to make his soulmate look more bemused than before, though the curl to her lips let him now she was also fairly amused at this surprisingly accurate summation of life with the Whitebeard pirates.

“It’s going to be fun,” Thatch told Violetta earnestly, “But we can’t exactly start without the guests of honor. So you’ll be back by five right?”

“Sure,” she agreed with a shrug, “I think we can manage that.”

Marco saw Thatch throw him a triumphant look and rolled his eyes. Of course his brother knew that she was the one he’d need to get to agree, after all Marco really didn’t give a damn about parties held in his honor. In fact he tended to go out of his way to avoid them given that Thatch and several others including many members of his own Division liked to make him the butt of several jokes during said parties.

He’d predictably get them back later though when the foolish, if lovable idiots challenged him to a drinking contest, deciding this might be the one time his phoenix healing might not take care of it and make him drunk. It hadn’t worked yet, and he had a grand time smirking triumphantly as they all moaned about their inevitable hangovers the next morning.

Still since Violetta had already agreed he could hardly say no, though he did make a mental note to get back at Thatch for his manipulation later, for now though he had brothers to escape and a date to go on.

…~oO*Oo~…

Walking through the streets of the quaint little village was a surreal experience for her. The houses for the most part were one and two story cottages, complete with stone exteriors and wooden roofs. People were moving happily through the cobblestone streets and the chatter and sounds coming from all around her were loud and happy.

It reminded her of the way Hogsmeade used to be, back before the war had destroyed a good majority of the homes and shops there. They’d rebuilt of course, but it had never been quite the same, even if some of the major landmarks like the shrieking shack and the Three Broomsticks remained unchanged.

Interestingly the people here seemed to adore the Whitebeard Pirates, which surprised her. Apparently the islanders were extremely grateful to the captain because just his flag tended to keep other pirates away, giving them a degree of safety they never would've enjoyed otherwise. Whitebeard also apparently didn't ask for a whole lot in return, just that they resupply them at a bit of a discount whenever they happened to swing by the island. 

Listening to their chatter she realized that it was considered an honor to be chosen as one of the suppliers for the Whitebeard pirates and was actually something the local businesses here competed over. The winners got to hang the flag in their storefront windows and saw an increase of patronage by the other inhabitants after the pirates left again.

Walking through the town her fingers laced through Marco's she realized they were getting quite a bit of attention. It wasn't surprising considering the level of idolization they seemed to have for Whitebeard and his crew. She was a bit envious of her soulmate's ability to brush off the attention. Back in her world in Hogsmeade after the war she always cringed away from the adoring masses. Luckily the long time residents of the village, who knew her from her school days, like Madam Rosmerta did their best to ensure she felt comfortable, shooing away anyone who appeared to be bothering her in the few times she'd ventured out of the castle. It was something she'd always be grateful for.

Here though they weren't staring at the two of them because of her fame, or because of her at all really. In fact she was pretty sure she would've been completely ignored if she hadn't been walking hand-in-hand with the First Division Commander. It was a strange feeling, a liberating one, and it made keeping her head up as they walked together than much easier.

"Is there anywhere in particular you were hoping to go ~yoi?" Marco asked as they strolled down one of the main streets.

"Not really," she told him with a shrug, "I figured you'd show me what you thought was good and if we had time left after that we'd explore together."

He nodded in agreement, "First thing I want to do is head to the market. It's a pretty neat area, fairly diverse considering how the islands in the New World tend to be fairly isolated from one another, at least culturally."

"Are you looking for anything in particular?" she asked curiously.

"Just a few things I need to restock on," he told her vaguely, as they turned a corner and she stopped in her tracks, pulling Marco to a halt with her, as she stared, wide-eyed at the scene before her.

She'd never seen anything like it before outside of books or the occasional movie. All along the street little booths and stands were set up and displaying their wares, the people manning them shouting praises of the items they were selling. Nearby she watched as a customer and the stall vendor appeared to be haggling over the price of something or another, with fierce competitive looks on their faces. Children and animals were running around, weaving through the foot traffic the sounds of their play adding to the general cacophony. 

Each stall had something a little different. She could see vibrant looking fabrics, glittering jewelry, elaborate artwork, and all sorts of little trinkets sitting out on display. Mixed in with the goods were food vendors, on the air she could smell roasting meat, sweet baking bread, and several other things that made her mouth water despite having just finished breakfast.

In some ways it reminded her of Diagon Alley before the war without the blatant displays of magic. Still the place seemed to have a magic all its own.

"Is everything alright ~yoi?" Marco asked peering down at her in concern.

"This is amazing!" she gushed at him practically beaming as she began moving forward again, pulling him along with her by their entwined hands as she made her way through the crowds, taking in the atmosphere, "I've never seen anything like this before!"

"You don't have open-air markets where you come from?" Marco asked curiously as she paused in front of the first stall she'd come to eagerly perusing their wares.

"We might, but not ones that I ever got to see, for the most part shopping was done in individual stores, though they did tend to group those stores together for practical purposes," she told him with a smile.

"Well then I'm glad you get to try something new, though if you've got anything valuable on you keep a close eye on it, places like this are prime targets for thieves," this last bit seemed to be directed not at her but the man behind her. Turning she saw him put his hands in the air, give Marco a good-natured smile and then take off like the hounds of hell were on his heels.

Her soulmate looked like he might've wanted to pursue the man, but she stopped him by squeezing the hand she still had a hold of and offered him a wry smile, and told him in an undertone, "Don't worry. Things like that actually did happen in my world too, all the things I care about have anti-theft charms on them. If they get more than twenty feet away from my person they disappear and reappear back on me again."

"Well that's useful ~yoi," he informed her raising an impressed eyebrow, "Don't suppose you're going to be teaching me that one anytime soon?"

"Probably not," she answered amused, "It's actually a much more complicated variant of the summoning spell, you'd have to master that one first."

"Don't worry about it," she continued picking up on the slight pout around his mouth, "You'll get it with practice, and in the mean time I can always perform the spell for you if it's something you're actually worried about. Plus the other spells I'm planning to teach you will be much more interesting to you I promise."

"You going to tell me about those any time soon?" he asked amused.

"Nope," she grinned, "I want it to be a surprise. Now, you said you had some things you'd like to pick up?"

Marco nodded, and took the lead again, taking hold of her arm and pulling her closer to him, so he could guide her while her head was on a swivel taking in all the interesting things the market had to offer.

It turned out the "things" Marco nodded was actually several pounds of dried dates. When questioned about the unusual purchase, because she'd thought one of the other Divisions was in charge of the resupply he'd told her these were for his own personal stores. She was deeply amused when he proceeded to tell her that her Fawkes in his baby phoenix form had basically conned him out of all of the dates he'd had on hand, and that he, himself hadn't gotten a single one.

The look on his face had practically been a pout, which she found adorable and promptly told him so. It was the first time she'd ever seen her soulmate blush, and she found that even more adorable, though refrained from telling him so to spare his dignity.

Along with the dates, he also picked up a few gifts for his friends, apparently Vista's birthday was coming up relatively soon, and so Marco was grabbing some his favorite sword polish for him in advance while he had the time. He also grabbed some general things like a better perch for Fawkes that would fit in his room, and several sized baskets for the still growing Sessha arranging for the larger items to be delivered to the ship.

She was touched by his consideration for her animals both of whom had opted to stay on the ship for now. Well Sessha had wanted to stay, complaining about land and the likelihood of being trampled. Fawkes was probably going to be flying around, exploring the island, though she'd warned him to be careful and not frighten the locals.

It seemed her soulmate was the thoughtful sort. He also encouraged her to buy things that she wanted for his rooms, informing her that they were actually 'their' rooms for however long she stayed and he didn't want her to be uncomfortable.

She'd been more than a little hesitant at first. She didn't like the idea of spending his money, even when he was freely offering it, but he was insistent since she didn't have the proper currency. He also managed to give her a crash course in the money system of this world, which evidently was called berri of all things. The conversions were a bit strange to her as well, though considering the exchange of galleons to sickles to knuts in the Magical world she had no room to be casting stones.

In the end it seemed to mean a lot to him, so she eventually did as he asked and picked out several things, some more feminine shampoos and soaps for her to use in the bathroom, a little perfume that she noticed he seemed to like, some extremely luxurious towels, and a couple little things that he'd noticed had caught her eye and he refused to see her leave behind.

It turned out that among other things her soulmate had a talent for haggling and numbers, which honestly made a lot of sense considering he was basically in charge of the paperwork and supplies for the Whitebeard pirates. Combined with the discounts the locals gave once they realized who he was they walked away with quite a bit of stuff for not very much money at all.

As they walked she fingered the small pendant at the hollow of her throat with a soft smile. It was made of a type of seashell she'd never seen or heard of before, and was a rich teal color with gold and black veins through it. The oval shell piece had a small hole punched through it at the top, and was on a plain black woven cord. Honestly it had reminded her of Marco's phoenix form which was why she'd picked it up in the first place, bringing the small piece up to her face to watch the light play off the surface.

It was a trinket, not particularly expensive, but for some reason she'd found she hadn't wanted to put it down. Marco had taken one look at her face and bought it for her. It was the one thing he'd paid full price for, not even bothering to haggle. After he'd helped her tie it around her neck. If he noticed the colors he didn't say anything aloud, though considering the rather smug look on his face she would guess he had.

Not that it mattered, she loved it either way, and that he'd bought it for her, no questions asked meant a lot to her, even if he had told her to pick things she liked. After all this wasn't for 'their' rooms and could in no way be termed necessary. She appreciated the gesture.

No one had ever bought anything for her before that wasn't strictly necessary. Sure the Weasleys and Hermione had bought birthday presents and such for her in the past, but they always expected something in return. And when they went out for things together, she'd always been the one they expected to pick up the check since as Ron put it she was 'the rich heiress'. She'd always got the feeling they resented her for that, even Hermione who was from a rather well to do family herself, though that was probably more for the books and artifacts she'd inherited than the actual money. That Marco seemed to buy things for her without a thought, without even a hint of some form of reparation later, made her feel warm.

Marco also introduced her to a bunch of different types of food as they walked, encouraging her to pick up little bits of this and that, that caught her fancy. So far she'd been introduced to takoyaki, yakitori, and mochi ice cream, all of which she'd enjoyed, taking a few bites of each and then passing them on to her amused soulmate to finish, not wanting to fill up on any one thing.

Frequently during their excursion they ran into Whitebeard pirates out and about. She would've thought it was coincidence, except most of said pirates seemed to be from the First Division and they'd managed to run into Stern and Cas several times. She'd spotted the others too, fairly frequently among the crowd, though they were no where near as obvious about it as the aforementioned two.

"They're following us aren't they?" she asked amused, knowing Marco would be able to tell given what he'd told her about Observation Haki.

Her soulmate grumbled incoherently under his breath, and cast an annoyed glare back into the crowd, where no doubt another Division member was hovering just out of sight behind the locals confirming her suspicions.

"How do you feel about giving them the slip?" she offered peering up at him through her eyelashes with growing mischief. He raised a single brow at her in interest, to show he was listening.

"See if you can't get us out of their line of sight, it'll only take a second," she ordered quietly.

He nodded, and while carefully haggling with the owner of one of the stalls over some spices he thought Thatch might like, discreetly began moving them around towards the back of the stall out of direct sight line of the main thoroughfare. His timing was perfect as a large gaggle of locals passed between them and their watchers just at that moment.

Quickly she cast a target specific notice-me-not spell over the two of them. It would keep anyone who was looking for them specifically from finding them, though it wouldn't hide them from anyone else, which made it extremely convenient for times like these. She'd used it back in her own world to slip away from crowds looking for autographs more than once over the years. 

When the crowd parted she watched as first Cas, then Stern, then several other First Division members popped out of the crowd glancing around frantically. She quickly stuffed a fist in her mouth to stifle her laughter as they began to run up and down the street.

“How could you lose them?!”

“They were right there!”

“Quick maybe they went that way!”

The locals were eyeing the Division members strangely, clearly able to still see them, with no clue why the pirates were suddenly acting so strangely. After several minutes of fruitless searching they decided to split up and keep looking, agreeing to signal the others if they found her and Marco again.

Glancing up at her soulmate she could see the question on his face, “A notice-me-not spell, everyone but them knows we’re here, and yes I will teach you, but it’s a higher level spell.”

“It’ll certainly be useful ~yoi,” he told her with a soft chuckle winding his arm around her waist and squeezing gently, “So how do you feel about exploring the town, and seeing the sites now, while we have some relative privacy.”

“Sounds good,” she agreed allowing him to guide her out of the stall after Marco arranged for the spices to be brought to the Moby, “Where to?”

The two of them spent an enjoyable couple of hours roaming around the island, taking in the scenery. It really was a pretty picturesque place, aided by the warm weather and the beautiful bright colors that the leaves on the trees were turning. According to one of the locals they wouldn’t ever lose the leaves complete it was too warm here for that, though some of them did fall.

This lead to an explanation from Marco about the sixteen seasons of the Grand Line, and all about the crazy weather phenomena that could be found here including the island that rained lightning. She thought it would probably be an interesting place to visit if she could figure out a way to protect herself.

It also led to a discussion about the sky islands and fishman island which was apparently under the sea. He promised her if she stuck around long enough she’d get to see both, as Fishman was part of Oyaji’s territory and the lightning island called Raijin was extremely close to it.

Their wanderings took them all over the island and she quickly discovered that her pirate soulmate had a deep love of literature. It wasn’t like Hermione who read for the sake of knowing everything, but something completely different. Marco read for the sake of reading. He’d read almost anything, from nonfiction to fiction, history to philosophy and everything in between.

The only reason his room wasn’t covered in floor to ceiling bookshelves was because they actually had a large library on Sōkutsu that he regularly changed his books out with except for a few well-thumbed favorites. Honestly finding that her apparently badass soulmate was also a secret nerd was amusing and extremely endearing, though it did mean they spent far more time in the bookstores they happened to come across than she’d expected and never seemed to leave a store empty handed.

Eventually her feet began to hurt, and so they stopped at a small café that he’d liked on a previous visit. The notice-me-not had worn off, but she figured it was fine, they hadn’t seen anyone for the last hour or so anyway. Plus she found their stalking more amusing than anything else.

Their waitress was quick and discreet in bringing out their orders, lemonade for both of them along with a small pastry since neither of them were actually hungry after spending the morning munching on whatever caught their fancy.

The table was kind of small for the two of them, even if she was rather petite, and she tried to keep her amusement to herself at the juxtaposition of Marco, her scruffy pirate soulmate, and the cute little café table, with its white whicker chairs and the big lacey umbrella casting interesting shadows down on the table and across their skin.

“Something amuse you ~yoi?” he asked, and she couldn’t help the giggles that spilled out of her mouth as she shook her head in denial and tried to focus in on the food.

…~oO*Oo~…

Their date had been going really well, despite his brothers’ and Division Members’ attempts to stalk them earlier. He’d been surprised how eager she was to explore the market, but he’d enjoyed that eagerness, along with the wide-eyed gratitude whenever he did something considerate for her.

The shock on her face when he’d paid for her necklace had been both heartwarming and upsetting because really she shouldn’t look so heart-wrenchingly grateful over such a simple trinket. It hadn’t been an expensive thing, just a pretty little bauble that she evidently wanted. He would’ve paid ten times the amount and not batted an eye considering how much she’d liked it.

Honestly every time he turned around it felt like he was seeing the results of the abuse the people she’d trusted had heaped on her, and it broke his heart every time, especially since it didn’t seem to take much of anything to please her. Every time it happened he swore he would somehow find a way to make it up to her. He would shower her in gold and jewels and wrap her in Wano silks if that was what she wanted, she would never yearn for anything ever again if he got his way.

The fact that she was sitting across from him now giggling, even if it was at his expense, felt like a victory. The sound was sweet and more girly than he’d been expecting from his tough little soulmate, and frankly music to his ears.

He shifted in the almost too small and definitely uncomfortable seat adjusting his legs so that they intertwined with hers, not caring in the least that unlike the breakfast table, anyone would be able to see the affectionate gesture for what it was. She smiled at him, the same way she always did whenever he touched her, which only encouraged him to do it more.

He liked that she was so at ease with public displays of his affection for her. Honestly he hadn’t really thought about it before but some women probably would’ve been uncomfortable with the fact that he was almost always touching her. However he was honestly a pretty physically affectionate person despite what others might think.

He enjoyed the occasional roughhouse or manly hug with his brothers that his soulmate seemed to like it too, or at least not mind it too much only reinforced how well soulmates always seemed to fit together if they worked to make a stable relationship.

Over the years he’d seen enough soulmate relationships to know that most of the ones that ended in tragedy were because the pair either assumed everything would work itself out simply because they were soulmates, or one or the other didn’t put effort into the relationships assuming it would work out for the same reason. He was determined not to make either of those mistakes with his own soulmate, after all you only got one shot at it. He didn’t understand why people would even chance messing it up.

She hummed and as if reading his mind reached across the table to intertwine one of her hands with his, reaching the other for her lemonade and sipping happily. The sunlight danced over her skin where it shown through the lacey umbrella above them, and as she shifted the light caught her bright eyes and glinted off the necklace she wore at the hollow of her throat.

“You know everyone’s going to think I bought that for you ~yoi,” he told her nodding towards the necklace.

“You did buy it for me,” she pointed out amusement twisting her lips and dancing in her eyes. She knew exactly what he meant.

“I know, but they’re going to think I’m the one who picked it out, because of the way it looks,” he elaborated with a wry twist of his lips, “They’ll think I was trying to mark my territory ~yoi.”

“Do you think so?” she asked teasingly, her voice edged with just the tiniest bit of sarcasm, “I can’t imagine why, it’s not like it caught my eye because it reminded me of you or anything.”

He nearly choked on his lemonade in surprise at the admission, slightly sarcastic though it was, and stared at her wide eyed as she continued, “And it’s not like I mind, carrying around something that reminds people I’m with you, you’re my soulmate after all.”

There were no words to describe his feelings on her blunt statement of her feelings, though possessiveness, triumph, and lust were among them they also weren’t soft or sweet or desperate enough to really describe what he felt. Still there was something he could do in response.

Reaching forward he caught her chin with his free hand caressing his thumb lightly over her cheekbone, and gently coaxing her forward. He braced some of his weight on the forearm he had on the table, the fingers of that hand still laced with hers and leaned forward himself. He caught the barest glimpse of her wide emerald eyes before closing the gap between them and pressing his lips gently to hers.

She seemed stiff for a second, and he wondered if he’d pushed too fast, more than prepared to back off and apologize, but then her lips went soft and pliant under his, molding with his as she tentatively kissed back. Gentle and sweet and perfect as her right hand squeezed his and her left hand came up to rest on his forearm, fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt urging him closer.

It was just the response he’d been hoping for, and he parted his lips, wanting to see if she was willing to deepen the kiss, only for the moment to be interrupted by a bright flash of light. He jerked in surprise and the two of them pulled away from each other. Unfortunately she pulled away a little too fast and went tumbling backwards, landing in a heap on the ground an extremely disgruntled expression on her face as she turned toward the culprits.

Cas and Stern were standing there along with a good majority of the First Division, apparently they’d found them just in time to witness the kiss. He could pretty much guess what had happened considering the cameras several of them were holding. The group as a whole looked like it didn’t know whether to be amused or horrified by the result of their combined cameras all going off at once.

“Is someone going to help me up?” Violetta huffed with good humor untangling her legs from the chair and wincing slightly, “I hope one of you at least got a decent shot.”

Cas immediately stepped forward to take her hands, grinning at her unabashedly as he helped her to her feet. He was glad at least to see that she and the Division seemed to be getting on well. He stood himself and reached for her, a little concerned still.

“I’m fine,” she assured him easily brushing off the dust on her pants, “Though I think if one of you did get a good shot I deserve a copy.”

Marco huffed in amusement and pulled her into his arms leveling an annoyed look at his men who shifted guiltily, and murmured agreements to her request, though he wasn’t exactly sure why she’d want it, other than to know what kind of blackmail they were going to have.

“So there you are!” a new voice interrupted any of his further musings as Izo made his way up the street with Ria and Hana in tow, “We’ve been looking all over for you!”

…~oO*Oo~…

“Looking for me?” Violetta repeated confused as Izo elbowed his way through the members of the First Division none too gently, as it was obviously her he was talking to, his eyes completely focused on her and with a glint in them that was a little concerning.

"Yes! It occurred to me, with your rather abrupt arrival that you won't have anything to wear to the party tonight, and you did say you'd like to go shopping," he reminded her with a slightly manic grin on his face. Behind him both Ria and Hana looked a combination of eager and resigned.

He was right, she didn't have a whole lot in terms of clothing. Her emergency bag, which held all of the clothing she'd managed to bring with her in her trip across dimensions was meant for just that, emergencies. Emergencies to her generally meant running and fighting for her life, which meant the clothing in the bag was all practical stuff, nothing remotely dressy.

She'd actually spent several moments in the bathroom that morning agonizing over what to wear on her date with Marco, because she certainly didn't have anything she considered cute. She'd eventually settled on the nicest pair of jeans she had available, which basically meant the only pair that wasn't baggy or holey with ground in dirt or grass stains, and a black V-neck t-shirt she'd found at the very bottom. 

Luckily it hadn't seemed to matter much, as Marco wasn't dressed any differently from normal, but she still would've liked something a bit cuter to wear on their first date. She was just grateful she'd been able to do something a little nicer with her hair and make-up. Yes he'd previously told her that he liked her either with or without, but in some ways her beauty routines felt a bit like putting on armor, they gave her more confidence, she just wished she'd had the clothing to match.

"I don't have any money on me at the moment," Violetta told him with a frown voicing her only real objection to shopping.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Marco reaching for his wallet, and she pinched him lightly in the side to stop him. Things that were necessary were one thing, but she already had clothing, and while it wasn't as nice as she would've liked it was still serviceable and also far better than anything she'd ever been able to wear at the Dursley's so she honestly shouldn't be complaining.

"My treat for my new sister," Izo informed her, apparently not taking no for an answer as he latched on to her arm and proceeded to begin dragging her away. Apparently Marco was either resigned to his fellow Division Commander's behavior or too shocked to respond in time, as Izo successfully managed to maneuver her back through the crowd toward Hana and Ria, "Besides we soulmates have to stick together. It was about time we got some bonding time."

To her surprise both Ria and Hana nodded emphatically and she was forced to cave in. She did want to know them better. After all no one was going to understand her situation quite like the three of them, even if hers was far different from either of theirs. Still she wasn't going to let Izo push her around too much, she'd let him buy a single outfit for her for the party later and that was it.

Luckily it seemed the others were also doing shopping of their own, so at least she wouldn't be the only one looking around. Izo apparently had an eye for quality and a nose for bargain hunting as he dragged them into several different stores. The first couple honestly weren't to her taste, too cutesy and sweet, though they did seem to fit Ria rather well.

The contrast between her and her stoic soulmate Jozu was a rather interesting one, but she found the way Ria gushed about him sweet.They seemed to fit rather well despite looking like opposites at first glance. Even though she didn't bother to try on clothing in the first couple of stores the group made it a point to make her feel included, asking for opinions or advice, or sharing stories about their experiences with their soulmates while they shopped.

Ria and Izo were both fairly talkative once they got going, and were more than happy to chatter away. Hana was much quieter, though she noticed as time passed that she had an extremely dry wit. In someways it reminded her of Snape, though not unpleasantly.

The next store they visited was much more Hana's style, a bit edgier, with darker stuff, leather as opposed to Ria's lace. She did find a couple of things that she liked here, but when she tried them on they didn't seem to fit quite right. She didn't bother showing them to the group figuring it was a waste of time, explaining to Izo that she simply hadn't cared for them after all.

By now Hana and Ria both had several bags worth of stuff, though she noticed Izo didn't have anything in his hands, as he led them to their next stop. Apparently he thought she'd really like this one.

Browsing through the merchandise she found he was right. She did like a lot of the clothes they had on display in the women's section. Hana and Ria had found a couple things they liked already and were in the fitting rooms while Izo was flicking through a rack nearby. She was holding up a pretty emerald top that she thought might look nice with her eyes. Honestly she didn't know a whole lot about fashion, but people had always told her she looked good in green.

She had just draped the top over her arm to try on when she was approached by one of the saleswomen. Up until now most of them had been hanging back at the stores they went to, apparently deciding they weren't in need of help. She was actually a little surprised it had taken one this long considering she was pretty sure they worked on commission.

"Oh no dear I don't think that's going to be right for you," the woman told her, her tone kind if a bit condescending, "It's not the right shape for you, you won't fill it out properly which will make you seem smaller than you already are. Actually now that I look I think we have things more in your size over here."

Frowning but deciding that the salesperson probably knew best she allowed her to lead her away from the racks she'd been at and into a different part of the store. She frowned, the clothes over here seemed a bit... off.

"Are these children's clothing?" she asked incredulously glancing around.

"Well yes dear, but it's the only thing we have that might fit," the woman told her with a shrug, "You're just not built like our normal customers. These should fit you much better."

Violetta glanced down at her bust with a frown. She had noticed that most of the women in this dimension seemed to be exceedingly busty for whatever reason, but she hadn't thought yet about what that could mean in terms of clothing. She wasn't exactly small in her world, a decent B-cup bordering on a C, but with all the women around sporting triple Ds at least she was small in comparison.

Not quite knowing how to protest she could only hold still as the woman went through the aisles and heaped clothing into her hands then pushed her off into one of the dressing rooms. Slowly she began to put on the things she'd been offered frowning at her reflection in the mirror as she studied the pants and top she'd been handed. The jeans felt awkward, too tight in the hips and arse, but loose at the waist, and the top seemed to keep slipping off her shoulders, and felt more like a potato sack than a shirt.

Frowning she tried again, only to feel like she was about to fall out of the next shirt, sure she filled it out better, but she couldn't wear a bra with it because of the spaghetti straps and it felt like any moment something was going to slip and she was going to end up flashing someone. Of course it was that moment that the saleslady slipped in to the room and offered her an approving smile.

"There we go, so much better, now your man can look at you and see a woman, let me go see if I can find anything else like it, maybe something that can hide cover up those scars," the woman told her casting her arms a distasteful look, and flouncing out the door.

Violetta stared after her wondering if the lady knew just how rude she was being. She felt awkward, uncomfortable, and frustrated. Staring at her reflection she wondered if Marco saw a child the way the saleswoman had implied. She supposed compared to the women here she may look childish.

She was fairly petite after all, she only came up to his chin, and her bust was a lot smaller than normal here. Had he noticed that about her? Was he disappointed in the way that she looked? It wasn't something she had given time to think about, unsurprising considering the craziness of the last few days, but here in the dressing room it was the only thing she seemed to be able to think about.

Growing up she'd always been self-conscious of her looks. She'd known people in Little Whinging had known her as the scrawny Potter kid. Her aunt Petunia had complained frequently about her looks, telling her hair was a ratty mess, her eyes were too big and too green, and the hideous scar on her face meant no man would ever look twice at her. Whenever Marge came over she'd referred to her as ugly, scrawny, or a runt.

The fact that she hadn't gotten the food she needed and that she was always dressed in Dudley's hand-me-downs hadn't helped anything. After all Dudley was a boy and he was the size of a baby whale, frankly it was no wonder she'd looked scrawny in comparison. Still the words had affected her to some degree, even after she went away to Hogwarts.

Even Sirius and Remus had added to her poor self-image, comparing her to her parents the way they often had, and sometimes inadvertently implying she was lacking in some way. They probably hadn't meant it, but it had still stung.

Coming out of the war her body was riddled with scars, and while eventually some of them she'd been able to get rid of, others had remained, and whenever she went out in public wearing short sleeves or shorts of any kind it was almost guaranteed that someone commented on them. It had made her extremely self-conscious of them, and she did generally try to keep them well covered and out of sight.

Standing in that dressing room staring into the mirror with the saleswoman's words ringing in her ears about making her 'look like a woman' all she could see were flaws. Her eyes darting from scar to scar, lingering on her bust and hips, anxiously she crossed her arms, trying to cover herself a bit, wondering what the hell her soulmate saw in her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door, and Izo's voice, "Violetta? Violetta are you alright in there?"

…~oO*Oo~…

Izo knocked worriedly at the dressing room door concerned for the occupant. Both Hana and Ria were at his sides, looking as anxious as he felt, though Hana had yet to take her eyes off of the cowering saleswoman.

He'd seen Violetta go off with her, but figured she was just showing her to another section, and hadn't paid too much attention, that is until the saleswoman had approached him, asking if Violetta really was the soulmate of the First Division Commander the way rumor was saying. He'd confirmed that she was, figuring the news was bound to come out sooner or later, and wanting to discourage the woman from any interest she might have in Marco.

She'd scoffed and been sympathetic to the First Division Commander, wondering how the 'handsome strong Commander' had ended up with a 'scarred, scrawny, boy' for a soulmate when everyone knew the man liked his women curvy. She'd said it right as Hana and Ria had been approaching from the dressing rooms, their arms full of things, which had promptly been dropped on the floor.

Ria had verbally lit into the woman, tearing her to pieces and threatening her most creatively while he and Hana fingered their respective weaponry. How dare this piece of trash speak ill of the soulmate of the First Division Commander. Ria had finished her rant by insisting the Whitebeard pirates would never frequent this shop ever again, and if she ever heard the stupid woman badmouthing her friend again she'd learn how the Whitebeard Pirates reacted when someone threatened one of their own.

Leaving the woman in a puddle on the ground and the other two saleswomen gaping in shock they'd gone to fetch Violetta only to find her in one of the dressing rooms. It was only then that Izo paused and wondered. If the saleslady had said that kind of thing to them, just what had he said to Violetta? He threw another disgusted glance at the woman before ordering Ria and Hana to stand watch while he went in. Extremely worried that she wasn't answering his calls.

Opening up the curtain he slipped inside and was met with a sight that about broke his heart. Violetta was staring into the mirror with tired, jaded eyes, one arm held protectively around her torso and the other tracing the edges of the scar on her face. He was suddenly reminded of what she said to Namur, about people gawping at her because she looked different, and his heart went out to her.

"Vi," he prompted trying to keep his voice as gentle as possible, and not give into the fury that made him want to march straight back across the store and give the saleswoman a scar to match his poor sister's, because she was, his sister that is, and no one messed with Izo's family, no one, "Vi are you alright."

His voice seemed to jolt her out of her trance and she glanced up at him, meeting his gaze in the mirror and offering a weak smile, "Oh Izo, I'm sorry it's taking me so long. It seems not even the children's clothes fit me very well."

Izo started and then glanced at the clothes scattered about on the floor, which were indeed meant for young children, prepubescent girls. Fury blazed through him, and it took everything in him not to go out and start strangling the woman who had obviously done her very best to play up Violetta's insecurities. Well, he certainly wasn't going to stand for that! 

"Of course they don't fit you!" he scoffed noticing her wince he quickly continued, "You're a woman not a girl, why would girl's clothing fit you?"

"Honestly that woman! She clearly had no clue what she was doing," Izo informed her shooting a dark look at the curtain and hoping the stupid woman could hear him, "Not surprising at all considering the monstrosity she was wearing. No one seems to be having any luck here, so we've decided to move on. Do you mind leaving?"

"Sure just let me get dressed," she told him the relief on her face was palpable, and she quickly scrambled to find her clothes as Izo walked out of the room, his face a serene mask, hiding his boiling fury. Hana and Ria both shot him curious looks but he didn't stop, marching straight over to where the saleslady had met up with her fellows, both of whom were eyeing him anxiously. He didn't know what the stupid woman had been telling them and frankly he didn't care.

"You had better pray," Izo informed the woman darkly, "That Marco never ever finds out what you did to his soulmate."

"I am aware, that he comes across laid back and even lazy but he isn't the First Division Commander for nothing," he snarled wishing not for the first time that he had Conqueror's Haki and could make this woman truly know the meaning of fear, though he would do the best he could without it, "He is also very protective of the people he cares for, and make no mistake. He cares far more for the woman in that room, the woman who you dared to hurt, despite knowing she was one of ours, and suspecting that she was Marco's soulmate, because of your petty jealousy, than he does about you, or the good will of this island."

"And let me tell you Marco won't care that you're a woman, he won't care that you're a civilian, you've hurt someone he cares for now and he would kill you with a smile, and frankly we would all back him, Oyaji included," Izo hissed enjoying the fear and the slow realization that was beginning to creep over the woman's face, "So I think, for your own sake you better get lost and pray we don't remember your name or your face."

Finished he whirled around and stalked back to Hana and Ria, neither of whom looked pleased as they waited by the door to the dressing room. Luckily it didn't take Violetta long to get ready now she knew they were leaving, and she popped out of the dressing room with a much more convincing smile on her face. Still he could see the lingering shadows in her eyes, which meant it was time to take drastic measures.

"Alright ladies!" he told them clapping his hands together and injecting as much cheer into his voice as he could manage, "I've saved the best for last I promise!"

He threw one last contemptuous look over his shoulder as he hurried the others out the door, pausing for only a second to tear down the Whitebeard flag that had previously been proudly displayed in the window. He made a bit of a show of tucking the fabric firmly in his pocket, so that the civilians who saw him exit the store could see what he'd taken.

Immediately whispers sprouted up, but he decided to do one last thing just to be sure, "I can't wait to get over to Doskoi Panda, they have the best stuff honestly. I don't know why we even bothered with this dump! Let's go!"

The whispers got louder and he smirked to himself, mission accomplished. Hopefully by the next time they came through here this place would have gone out of business.

Taking Violetta into Doskoi Panda he could tell she was anxious, hanging back and not really bothering to look at clothes anymore. That simply wouldn't do. He wouldn't stand for it. He signalled Hana and Ria and the three of them split, immediately beginning to shop, not for themselves but for her, pressing the things into her arms and insisting she tried.

She protested at first, but eventually caved in, apparently caring more about their budding friendship than any potential humiliation or frustration that the clothes might cause her. Izo very carefully selected a dress, and insisted it be the first she try on.

It was a rich amethyst color with a plunging neckline and a pretty handkerchief hem on it he was sure she would look absolutely fabulous in it. He was very good at this sort of thing after all. Just to be sure though, he insisted she show him the minute she had it on.

When she exited the dressing room he had to bite back a shout of triumph, the dress looked absolutely perfect, and it was in a shade of Marco's favorite color. He'd love it on her, and she looked fabulous. Ria didn't bother with his same restraint and squealed happily over the dress, ushering her up on to the runway between the dressing rooms so she could get a good look at herself in the mirrors there.

"You look amazing!" Ria was telling her excitedly, "And I love that color on you!"

"I'm a little worried about the neckline," Violetta admitted anxiously, "I don't want to fall out or anything."

"You'll be fine," Ria assured her eagerly, see the way the fabric drapes? Even if you bend forward it will still cover you. I wish I could pull something like that off, it makes your boobs look fantastic."

"You think so?" she asked glancing at herself in the mirror and bending slightly to see that the dress did in fact do exactly what Ria had said it would.

"Oh I know so," Ria informed her with a smirk, "Marco is going to absolutely lose it when he sees you in that."

"I hope so," she murmured, nearly too quietly for them to hear, but Izo caught it all the same.

"Please, have you seen the way the man looks at you?" he spoke up rolling his eyes for emphasis, "It's like he's trying to devour you with his eyes! He can't keep his hands off you as it is, never mind if you wear something like that!"

She giggled a light flush coming to her cheeks as she carefully brushed a strand of hair out of her face, and Izo counted it as a win.

"Do you have something to wear over it?" she asked glancing at herself in the mirror again.

"Wear over it? Why?" Ria demanded before Izo could, "It's warm out! Besides, they'll have all kinds of braziers and stuff if it gets cold, plus don't you have Marco to keep you warm?"

"Well, but..." she hesitated fingers tracing over the scars on her arms.

"No one is going to be looking at those," Hana spoke up suddenly, her voice immediately attracting Violetta's startled attention, "Everyone on the ship has some scars, even your soulmate. No one thinks any less of you seeing them, frankly I doubt they see them at all, and if they do they're more likely to wonder what kind of fights you've had than how ugly they might be."

He could see that Marco's soulmate struggled with that fingers tracing over the scar on her face again, but Hana wasn't done.

"You think my scar makes me ugly?" she asked, pointing to the large smile across her neck.

"No! Of course not!" Violetta protested immediately, "You're beautiful, and probably very strong to survive something like that."

"Thank you," Hana rasped and Izo could see Violetta had inadvertently helped Hana a bit in return with her quick response, "I think you're beautiful too, so don't worry about it so much."

The two of them shared soft smiles and he beamed, glad that they had connected with one another, and could say that type of thing to each other because frankly coming from her or Ria, who had never suffered like they had, it just wouldn't have seemed as sincere.

"Alright so that's option one! Let's see what else you've got!" Izo prompted cheerfully.

Things went a lot easier after that, as the three of them teamed up to help Violetta learn which clothing best suited and flattered her body type, and he could see his new sister slowly opening up and becoming more confident. He knew the entire process of helping repair her self-image would take more than just a day of good shopping, but he was more than prepared to help her with it.

Frankly though he thought Marco would probably be the one who'd do the most for her with his blatant and unrelenting appreciation for her. He kind of thought Marco was one of those people who would've thought his soulmate was beautiful. Even if she was some kind of ugly old hag, he was just one of those men, who'd find something beautiful about her. His brother was an amazing person that way.

In the end, between Izo, Hana and Ria's insistence coupled with her own love of the clothing they'd found Violetta walked away with almost a complete new wardrobe, though she swore she'd pay him back somehow. He wasn't too worried about it, feeling like it was a gift to his new sister, but deciding to accept payment if she really felt the need for it, not wanting to belittle her pride.

Still it was the purple dress she'd decided to wear to the party tonight, which made him feel more than a bit smug. They finished with just enough time to make the hair and make-up appointment Izo had scheduled for them first thing that morning. The four of them relaxed as they were pampered a bit, and gossiped, with Violetta a much more active participant than she had been that morning. She even asked them questions about how they managed their relationships with their own soulmates and about regular life aboard the Moby.

By the end of it Izo was feeling more than a bit hopeful that she would be staying, despite the fact that they'd be reaching the island with their base on it in less than a handful of days. She fit in well with their group, and was a good counterbalance for he and Ria, connecting best with Hana who he knew often felt overwhelmed by the two of them, even if she did care for them deeply. Yes he liked this very much, and most certainly could get used to it.

The group of them walked together towards the ship, the boisterous noise of his brothers music to his ears as they approached. As soon as they were in sight the catcalls and whistles started, all of them teasing and meant in good fun. Not a single one of his brothers would dare actually hit on any of their other brother's soulmates let alone the soulmates of the Commanders.

Walking up on to the gang plank to reach the top deck he could tell the instant Violetta and Marco spotted one another, as she froze in place. Glancing over he could see why. His brother had apparently been chatting with a few of the other Commanders but had apparently stopped the minute he laid eyes on her.

The predatory look on his face was something to behold, it made Izo a little embarrassed to see it, even though he wasn't on the receiving end. Oh yes, his brother definitely found his soulmate attractive, that was for sure. He tried and failed not to smirk as he saw the rising blush on Violetta's face and realized, that she too had cottoned on to what that look on Marco's face meant.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see the slight flashes of cameras that the First Division had taken to toting around. He hoped they got a good one of this, though it looked like their subjects were completely oblivious to the cameras, too caught up in each other to notice.

His brother visibly shook himself and in a few quick strides Marco brought himself across the deck, slowing as he reached her, his hands extending and gently clasping her forearms, his eyes lingering for a second at the very exposed hollow of her throat. Izo smirked, he'd seen the necklace, which was the other reason he'd chosen the plunging neckline, rather than going for something high necked with an open back instead.

"You look amazing ~yoi," Marco told her his voice practically dripping with sincerity. Izo beamed, mission accomplished.

…~oO*Oo~…

The way Marco looked at her. She wasn't sure how to describe it other than it made her feel wanted, and sent frissons of heat through her. Was this what Izo had been telling her about before? If it was she could see what he meant. She felt desirable, even beautiful, in a way she hadn't since the Yule ball back when she was fourteen.

It felt like she and her soulmate were in their own private bubble, and for a moment she wanted nothing more than for him to lean forward and kiss her again the way he had on their date earlier, before they were so rudely interrupted. 

She wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that their bubble was broken seconds later as somewhere in the background someone shouted that the guests of honor were both here so now the party could begin. The resounding cheer from everyone, and she saw her soulmate sigh and roll his eyes in fond amusement, guiding her closer so he could wrap an arm around her waist.

What followed seemed to be a massive rush to the alcohol. She watched in amusement as what looked like every single pirate aboard got in line for booze as Thatch and the Fourth Division began to haul out platter after platter of food from the Dining Hall. Apparently they were eating on the deck tonight.

Whitebeard was sitting on the enormous chair at the center of the deck, a truly huge sake saucer in his hands. She could spot some of the Division Commanders lounged around the deck in different areas. The large ones like Fossa, Kingdew, Atmos, Blenheim, Blamenco and Namur were relatively easy to spot due to their size, the others less so, though Thatch's pompadour was pretty distinctive along with Haruta's bright green tunic.

Music and card games sprung up all over the deck, with the sounds of loud laughter, and the occasional tussle filling the night air. She stayed at Marco's side, chatting with anyone who wanted to chat with her, and listening to the conversations her soulmate was having with the others. All of the Division Commanders stopped by to say hello at some point.

Hana and Ria both stayed close to hand, which meant Jozu and Vista were close too. She was relieved to have some female company in the mess, and happily chatted with them, giggling over the antics of some the pirates they could see.

Most of the First Division also stopped by to see her, and she was invited several times to join in the dancing that had started up on deck. She'd politely declined, telling them she didn't dance. That was a bit of a lie of course, she'd had to learn for the Yule Ball her Fourth Year, and had enjoyed it enough that she kept on with it a bit afterwards. However the 'dancing' they were referring too wasn't her kind of dancing. She wasn't sure if there were steps for it or not, but from where she was standing it looked a bit more like happy random drunk stumbling.

Eventually Thatch's voice cut through the mob, "A toast! To our First Division Commander and his lovely soulmate Vi!"

"Cheers!"

Apparently this was some sort of tradition as it started off a string of shouted toasts, which started out serious and devolved into complete and utter silliness. Some of her favorites were...

"To Oyaji's venerable mustache!" which was kind of impressive considering 'venerable' was a big word for someone that drunk.

"To Hana's lovely legs," which of course was Vista, though Hana herself looked a combination of amused and annoyed.

and

"To Marco's pineapple head!" which had her nearly keeling over with laughter, and Marco leaving her side to run after Thatch, the perpetrator in an attempt to beat him black and blue.

He was still gone when several of the pirates approached her, "Oy aren't you going to drink with us sister?"

...~oO*Oo~...

Gabe started at the words and realized that no, Violetta didn't actually have a drink in hand, curious he drifted closer to the conversation, figuring someone should probably watch over Marco's soulmate while he was on his quest to teach Thatch a lesson. As the Second Division Commander that probably fell to him, seeing as Jozu and Ria had drifted away and Hana was having a discussion with Vista about toasting her body parts again.

"I don't drink very much, or at all really," Violetta was telling them apologetically as he approached.

"But why not?" one of them, a member of the Seventh Division if he wasn't wrong, asked with a frown.

"I guess because for me I've always associated drinking with unhappiness. In my home country a lot of terrible things happened and afterward people turned to a lot of different methods to cope with what had happened," she explained calmly, "One of them was drink."

"I've seen people lose themselves in alcohol before, friends becoming people I suddenly didn't recognize at all, too caught up in the past, their pain and booze to see that life was moving on around them, and if they didn't get their act together it was going to leave them behind," she mused her gaze far away, not really seeing the men in front of her anymore but something else entirely.

"I've seen people do terrible things under its influence before too, a lot of people I knew growing up got angry, or well angrier when drunk, and they'd lash out at anything and everything around them. Watching them I always swore I'd never be like them, that I would never lose control of myself like that, and so I don't drink," she finished with a polite smile.

The pirates who'd been asking pouted and tried a little while longer to convince her before walking away again leaving her alone. He watched as she slumped against the wall for a second, a small moment of weakness, realizing that whatever memories his brothers had accidentally dredged up hadn't been remotely pleasant.

"They're going to keep bugging you, you know?" he told her waiting until after her moment was over to approach.

"Hmm?" she asked a polite smile on her face that he was beginning to think was a mask fixed on her face.

"The alcohol thing, everyone on the ship drinks a bit in some form or another, so they're going to keep after you," he explained carefully.

"I'm not going to drink, no matter what anyone says," she told him her emerald eyes glinting fiercely in the fading light as the sun began to sink below the horizon.

"A little bit here and there won't hurt you," he told her gently, "It's only the people who imbibe all the time, who try to drown their sorrows in it, who come to rely on it like a crutch to keep them from feeling their pain."

"Most of us here drink for the pleasure of it, for fun. Occasionally we'll have someone with a genuine problem, and when we find them, we do our best to help them," seeing her skeptical look he figured an example would be best and sighed, normally he didn't like dredging up his past, but he didn't want her to get the wrong impression of them.

"My dad was a mean old drunk," he began evidently startling her, "He used to beat on us kids and on my Ma, all the time, and when he wasn't drinking he was gambling, so we never had a whole lot."

"Unfortunately I went the opposite way you've gone, and figured if you can't beat'em join'em I think I had my first drink when I was twelve, and it only got worse from there," he went one, staring determinedly at the wall.

"Eventually my dad died when I was eighteen, and I set out to see, filled with a burning rage and a need for alcohol and violence. I wandered around for a while, had a small crew, did a whole lot of things I'm not proud of. Oyaji found me when I was twenty-three, I challenged him to a fight, hopped up on liquid courage and got my ass beat," he told her with a wry fond smile.

"After though he asked me to become one of his sons, he took me on board and welcomed me with open arms the way no one else had ever done before," glancing at her out of the corner of his eye he could see she was listening, so continued, "I tried for a while to fit in, but I was still drinking all the time. I needed it, couldn't be without it, and was swiping it from the kitchens whenever I could."

"Eventually I got into a huge fight with some of the others on the crew, a knock-down drag-out brawl that left a lot of us including me, badly injured, some of us almost died, and Oyai decided enough was enough. He told us if alcohol was going to make us act like idiots he would take away the alcohol, and that's just what he did," he told her shaking his head.

"To this day it amazes me that no one mutinied, no one wanted to, that's how loyal they were to Oyaji, and it was clear we weren't the only ones suffering as Oyaji himself was going without. I think it was because he'd framed it as a 'we must help our family' kind of thing. The ship spent over a year completely dry, with no alcohol allowed on board, until each of us with a problem had talked it out, either with Oyaji himself, or a close friend or Division Commander."

"It was during that time that I realized just how much like the father I'd always hated I was acting, and how ashamed it made me. I had several nice long chats with Oyaji, Marco and some of the others, and eventually came to realize that something was going to have to change if I didn't want to end up just like him someday. I decided I would cut way back on the booze, one glass a month, if that," he informed her.

"And it was hard, damn hard at first, but I had everyone to support me, no one looked down on me when I slipped or when I lost my temper. Instead they'd commiserate, tell me stories of their own failings, spar with me until I felt better," he smiled, "And slowly but surely I started to get better. I started not to need the alcohol anymore. Eventually I reached my goal and I've been keeping to it ever since."

"So you see, alcohol in moderation is probably fine, just like anything else, but I can see why you don't want to do it, and while they'll keep bugging you, if you hold firm in your decision they'll respect it eventually," he explained with a shrug, "But if you want something to keep them off your back for now I can do that too."

"Oh?" she asked obviously intrigued.

"Yeah, follow me," he walked over towards where the booze was being kept with Violetta on his heels. Eyeing the stuff that was set out he reached over and began expertly mixing some things together. Eventually he had just the right mix and offered her the large glass, filled with brightly colored liquid.

"What is it?" she asked accepting the glass with a frown.

"Try it," he encouraged, and she nodded slowly and took a sip. Her face lit up with a smile and he grinned in return, "Good huh?"

"How much alcohol is in it?" she questioned warily.

He grinned at her and held up the tiny thimble he'd used to measure just a measly few drops of sake into it for her, honestly it wasn't even half a shot, into an enormous glass. It would take at least ten of them to get her even close to tipsy and there was no way she could drink that much in a single evening, despite the drink looking very alcoholic. She beamed back at him.

"You just come to me if you want a refill alright? And since you've got a drink with alcohol in it, they'll stop bugging you," he assured her.

She nodded gratefully, and feeling that his job was done he turned to head back into the party with the rest only to be stopped by her voice, "Gabe?"

He glanced at her over his shoulder raising an eyebrow in question.

"Thanks," she told him with a soft genuine smile, filled with understanding, thanking him for more than just the drink in her hands.

"Of course!" he told her with an equally friendly smile, "People like us have to stick together, and besides, bailing you out and helping you pull one over on your siblings, that's what family is for right?"

"Right," she confirmed with another smile.

He grinned at her, offering one last wave before stepping out into the crowd. Walking away he saw Marco give him a nod of thanks, as he waded back towards his soulmate, with Thatch complaining loudly behind him about his ruined pompadour.

He nodded back, it was the least he could do for the soulmate of the man who used to be his own Division Commander, the one who had the greatest influence on his life outside of Oyaji. Feeling accomplished he cheerfully made his way over to Thatch, laughing loud and long as he saw the man had been completely drenched in the special pineapple punch he'd made for Marco, and was dripping on to the deck, a completely unimpressed Izo at his side.

Yeah being a member of a family like this one was pretty amazing. He just hoped he'd helped Violetta to see that, and had encouraged her own desire to join them. He didn't know her very well just yet, but from his experience he knew people who'd suffered like they had needed a strong support system, and Whitebeard's family would be just that for her.

He resolved right then and there that he would do his part to be a piece of that support system, the way they'd done for him. It was about time he got to pay forward the kindness they'd shown to the lost angry young man he'd been back then.

Brushing more serious thoughts aside for now, reminding himself it was a party he bounded forward, deciding to get in on the people teasing the pineapple covered Thatch. It was a good day to be a Whitebeard.

…~oO*Oo~…

Jozu watched his brothers cavort happily around the deck, some singing, come playing cards, some dancing or playing instruments. All of them were having fun as far as he could see. A distance away to his left he could see Oyaji watching them all, nursing his large saucer of sake with a fond smile on his face.

The other Division Commanders were all scattered around the deck, well except for Rakuyo for some reason he was up in the rigging, giggling like a loon, but for the most part they were all there, hanging out in different groups, talking, laughing and having fun. Thatch, Marco, Izo and Haruta were all clustered together, and if he was hearing things correctly over the din Thatch was whining about how he'd never get the stains from the bright blue pineapple punch Marco had dumped on him out of his jacket.

Vista and Hana were in a quiet secluded corner having finished their earlier debate about Vista toasting her body parts and now making out rather heavily completely unmindful of the potential audience. Luckily the crew was used to this by now and knew better than to try to interrupt or give the pair a hard time. Hana was a dab hand with a blade, and had been known to throw knives at anyone trying to give her flack, something her soulmate found adorable for whatever strange reason.

Jozu's own soulmate was somewhere in the crush of bodies, happily dancing around. She'd dragged Marco's soulmate Violetta out with her, completely ignoring the other woman's protests in her enthusiasm. He and Marco had both chuckled at the scene, and briefly talked about how glad they were all three soulmates of the Division Commanders seemed to be getting along well, four if you counted Izo despite the fact that he was a Commander himself.

He frowned slightly as he saw Violetta finally emerge frown the crowd. It appeared she'd lost Ria out there somewhere, but that wasn't really surprising. He knew his soulmate could get extremely enthusiastic and startlingly competitive if she got dragged into some of the games going on around the deck.

What was surprising, and more than a little concerning was the look on her face, as she stumbled out of the crush, her half-full drink in hand. She looked harried, more than a little wild-eyed, and overwhelmed. She stumbled away her gaze darting frantically around the deck, and he could see in her a desperate need to escape. Glancing around he saw that Marco was facing the wrong direction to notice, and far too preoccupied attempting to defend himself from Thatch to notice his soulmate's distress.

Heaving himself to his feet, he easily parted the crowd as he made his way toward her, "Vi, do you mind if I borrow you for a second?"

She glanced up at him a tight smile on her face, "Of course Jozu, what can I do for you?"

"This way," he urged, carefully taking hold of her arm and guiding her towards a nearby set of stairs. Luckily being the size he was, wading through the crowd was easy, and together the two of them climbed up, and he led her to one of the upper decks that were completely deserted in light of the party below.

"Was there something you needed?" she asked, glancing around the deck with a frown, before looking back at him. He could see she was doing her best to fight down suspicion. He couldn't blame her, in hindsight it did seem kind of odd, his essentially luring her away from the party to somewhere dark and devoid of people.

"You looked like you need some space," he told her as gently as he could, knowing he came across rather gruff at times.

"Oh, I'm okay," she assured him with a polite smile, "Thank you for the thought though."

"It's okay to need to get away," he tried again, seeing the smile and the polite fiction for what it was, "Things here can get overwhelming, with so many strange people around all at once."

"I don't think they're strange," she insisted worriedly, apparently latching on to only that part of his reassurance, "I like them!"

"You may like them, but that doesn't mean they're not strange," Jozu told her with an amused snort, "We're all a bit odd here, every single one of us. It's why we fit in so well here, because we know what it's like to be different, or cast away or hurt. All of us here are strays that Oyaji took in and welcomed into his family."

"Family huh?" she asked with a tired sigh, "Must be nice. Marco did mention the crew was like his brothers."

"That's right, we're all family, even you," he told her.

"Because I'm Marco's soulmate," she confirmed with a shrug.

"That's true enough," he admitted with a frown, not quite liking the way she'd said that, as if they wouldn't have welcomed her if she hadn't meant something to Marco, "I'm not very good at explaining it, but it's more than that. You should talk to Oyaji about it."

"Yeah, maybe," she told him absently, her head turning so she could stare down into the happy crowd below them.

"Anyway I just wanted you to know that it's okay to want to get away sometimes," he told her going back to the original subject, "I certainly do. I like time to myself to have peace and quiet, where I don't have to deal with or even interact with anyone just for a little bit, to give myself a break."

"I don't want to offend anyone," she told him chewing her lip nervously as she moved to lean against the banister, cradling her glass in her hands and staring down into it like it held all the answers to the universe, "I do like everyone I've met so far I mean this is my soulmate's family. I just..."

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair absently brushing it out of her face and blowing out a frustrated breath, "I'm not sure what I'm doing. I mean I finally found my soulmate, so that's good, but somehow I'm suddenly in a new world where even fundamental things like the weather work differently and there are all these people who want to talk to me, get to know me, test me, figure me out or push me."

"And I thought I was doing okay you know? But as we were hanging out down there everyone kept talking to me, and talking to me and all of a sudden it just seemed like too much. I couldn't breathe, it was like the walls were closing in, so I told them I had to visit the lady's room and bolted," she explained with self-depreciating smile.

"You're a bit overwhelmed, that's understandable," Jozu told her gently moving to join her, resting a hip against the railing. He wasn't sure how to best comfort her. She was right, it was a lot of pressure right now, but frankly he thought she was handling it rather well. After all she wasn't just anyone's soulmate, she was Marco's. The only other soulmate who would've come under as much scrutiny as her would be Oyaji's if said soulmate hadn't died many years ago.

"And it's well within reason for you to need to get away for a bit. Feel free to tell them to back the hell off if you need to, they might even respect you more for it," Jozu advised carefully, "We're not expecting you to be perfect you know, just be you and do the best you can. That's all we can ask for, all anyone should ask for."

"I just want everything to work out you know?" she asked quietly setting her drink down carefully, folding her arms and resting her chin on them, "It would be nice I think. Sometimes when I'm with Marco I can almost see the way we fit together. I can understand how we're soulmates, and imagine how good things could be if I can just manage to make things work."

"But then something happens, like before down there, I'll panic and then I'm left wondering when everything is going to fall apart on me," he could see the quiet despair on her face, and understand where she was coming from. He knew from what little he'd heard both from her, and from others that she'd led an extremely rough life, "Because things always seem to fall apart on me."

"It's not all on you, you know?" he told her firmly, "Marco has his fair share of work to do in this relationship too. That's how relationships are supposed to be, and you can't go into them thinking or planning for them to fall apart, because that's just a self-perpetuating cycle. Remember that you're just starting out here, and take it one step at a time. From what I understand you and Marco have longer than most to figure things out, so take things as slow as you need to. No one is going to pressure you. If they do point them my way, or to any of the other Commanders, we'll set them straight."

Silence fell between them as she appeared to be digesting his words. It was a nice silence, filled only by the distant sounds of the party below them. He took a minute to tilt his head back and admire the stars, giving her time to think without pressure.

He hoped he'd helped his new sister. It probably didn't seem like it to her, but they were just as desperate as she seemed to be for everything to work out. Marco especially of course. Those that had, had the chance to talk to her had nothing but good things to say, though it seemed the more they learned about her, the more it seemed she really did belong with them on the ship.

She was just like everyone else here, lost, afraid and alone and maybe more than a little bit broken. He just hoped they'd be able to do for her what Oyaji had done for all of them.

"Hey Jozu?" she asked quietly, into the silence.

He glanced down to see she'd turned her face toward him and in it he could see an ocean's worth of vulnerability but also the first beginnings of trust. 

"Thanks."

The simple word, so sincere in its' delivery made him feel warm, and accomplished. Glad to have been of some help and hopeful for a good future relationship with his newest family member.

"My pleasure," he assured her, gruff but sincere, "You want me to leave you alone for a bit?"

"Nah," she told him with a small quirk of her lips, "I don't mind your company."

He nodded, accepting the implication she didn't want to be completely alone, and glad that he was trusted enough to stay with her as she lost herself in thought once more, breathing calmly, head tilted back studying the stars.

…~oO*Oo~…

Newgate watched his newest daughter descend the stairs from one of the upper decks, looking far more at peace with herself than when she had left earlier. Jozu was with her and the two of them were chatting quietly, both looking rather content. He was glad. He knew some of his children had a hard time adjusting when they first came aboard the Moby, but it seemed his other sons, the Division Commanders in particular were stepping up to the plate for Marco's soulmate.

He was a bit surprised when Jozu gently took hold of the girl's shoulders and gave her a careful push in his direction. It seemed his son thought she needed to speak with him. He certainly wouldn't object to a talk with her, it was about time really. Normally he would've spoken to her as soon as she stepped foot on the Moby, but given the nature of her arrival and the secrets she'd unveiled shortly afterwards it wasn't surprising that he hadn't had a chance yet. Especially if he factored in the over protective nature of his eldest son.

Taking a large gulp of sake he tracked her progress through the crowd from the corner of his eye. Every few steps or so she'd be stopped by one or another of his sons and she'd pause, never brushing them off to chat for a quick minute or so before excusing herself and starting up on her way again. She broke up fights, gave advice, answered questions and made jokes all without batting an eye.

He never would've guessed she'd been on the verge of nervous breakdown earlier when Jozu had discreetly rescued her and taken her away for a bit to settle her nerves. The chit was a born leader, or at the very least had quite a bit of practice at it, and while she wasn't wildly charismatic, she did seem to have a quiet sort of something that drew people in. It was the same thing that made his sons seek out Marco for advice sometimes even over him.

When she finally reached the side of his chair he noted again how small she was. She hadn't actually been this close to him before, but just as he'd suspected, she didn't even come up to his knee, despite the fact that she was wearing shoes with a bit of heel. Izo's work no doubt. He stayed silent, though he did turn to look at her, acknowledging her presence. He'd learned from past experiences that sometimes he needed to let his children speak first, and that it was best to let them get on with it in their own time, so he waited patiently for her to begin.

"Jozu said I should talk to you," she began apprehensively, "Ask you about well I'm not sure really, maybe about family."

"He did, did he?" Newgate asked with an amused chuckle, "Well come on up then, if we're going to chat, may as well have both of us comfortable eh?"

He saw her glance around confused before her eyes locked on to the small step ladder he'd had built into the chair of the Moby, so they could come sit next to him when they wanted to talk. It beat having them strain their necks trying to look up at him, or him having to crouch down to meet their eyes. He climbed up with surprising grace for someone who hadn't been on the ship too long and after a moments indecision, plopped right down on the arm of his chair, crossing her legs and turning to stare up at him with a lost expression on her face.

A lot of things about Marco's soulmate were new to him. The phoenix thing, the magic thing, the I came from a different world thing, but that expression was something he'd seen, time and time again on his ship, achingly familiar. He could feel his heart melt a little at the sight, one he hadn't expected to see on the apparently confident magical girl. Up close he could see that she was just like the other strays who'd tugged on his heartstrings over the years and been dragged into the fold of his family, sometimes against their will.

The girl needed them, he could see it now. She needed a family and to know she was part of their group, that she was welcome and wanted no matter who she was or what she'd done or had done to her in the past. In other words exactly his kind of brat.

"So you want to know about my family," he mused aloud glancing down at her, and then around at his happy sons. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Marco had noticed his soulmate sitting on the arm of his chair. He looked a little anxious, but wasn't moving to intervene, which told him a lot about his trust in him as a captain and about how dearly he already held his little soulmate.

"You know once upon a time I was a lonely little orphan boy, growing up on the streets of some backwater hostile town you never would've heard of," he began, keeping his voice to a low murmur, "Back then it seemed like everywhere I looked there were families around, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, all looking out for one another, relying on one another, protecting each other."

"I was a pretty tough little brat, if I do say so myself. I've always been bigger than most, stronger too, and could wield a mean staff before I got my bisento. I practically ran those back alley streets back then, trusting no one, and running wild I amassed quite the little fortune. I began to work my way up in the world, buying things, making connections, by the time I was sixteen I had a steady job as a bodyguard, a good house, with nice things, and plenty of money but I was still unhappy and in pain. It took me a while but eventually I realized that I was lonely, crushingly lonely, with no one around to help or be helped by, no one to rely on," he explained with a sad smile.

"I realized then, that those families I used to see, who were happy despite living in squalor, who gave and received love unconditionally, that was what I wanted," he told her firmly, "That goal in mind I decided to set off, to get away from the town. I took the small fortune I had amassed, traded it for a boat and supplies and headed out to sea, looking for people who were looking for the same things I was looking for."

"It was hard, as a pirate. I was laughed at, scoffed at, and dismissed more than once. A lot of pirates even then cared little for anything but finding treasure, or becoming powerful enough to lord themselves over others. At times I despaired of ever reaching my goal but eventually I found them," he said with warm nostalgia, "It's unexpected perhaps but a lot of the pirates here on the seas are actually scruffy little misfit brats who couldn't find anywhere to belong and so set out to the oceans in hopes of finding their way. Out here I believe we are all equal, the sea gives and takes from you no matter your background, where you've come from or where you think you're going. Out here we are all Children of the Sea, and the sea welcomes us all equally."

"I try to do the same. I try to welcome aboard any lost soul who needs it," seeing her unconvinced expression he frowned and tried to find a better way to explain. 

"When you step aboard my ship you are one of my brats, you're part of my family, it's my promise to you and to them that no matter what as long as you roam these seas under my flag you will never be alone, you have a home, a family, and people who love you unconditionally," he finished watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"You're a very strange pirate," she informed him, and he could see the slight pout on her face as she said it.

He laughed at her response, loud and long, around him he could see several of his sons peeking over at them with fond understanding smiles, and even her lips twitched slightly in amusement.

"Maybe I am strange brat, but it works for me," he informed her, amused at the slight annoyed twitch at being called a brat. They were all brats to him, even Marco, who was almost of age with him, because they were his brats. He was their father, it was his job to watch over them, and also his job to tease them.

"I like it though, your family," she told him more softly studying her hands not quite looking at him, "I tried to do something like that once, but well it didn't work out for me."

He nodded, he remembered what she'd said about her so-called family members turning their backs on her. He couldn't imagine what kind of devastation that would cause. Frankly he couldn't imagine that level of betrayal from any of his sons, even the thought made him ache. 

"You are a part of this family too you know," he told her keeping his voice as gentle as possible, knowing this was a raw wound that would take time to heal.

"Because I'm Marco's soulmate," she nodded in agreement.

Ah, so that's why Jozu had sent her over here. This was a misunderstanding that had to be cleared up immediately.

"You weren't listening brat," he informed her carefully poking her in the forehead with one large finger, making her gape up at him in surprise.

"I said any lost soul who steps foot aboard the Moby is one of my brats, you're standing here aren't you?" she looked ready to protest so he continued, "Doesn't matter how you got here, or what you do afterwards, if you chose to stay or chose to go. The fact that you're Marco's soulmate doesn't even factor into my decision, even if it's what brought you here."

"You went looking for freedom, a true Child of the Sea if ever there was one, and you are more than welcome here, you are one of mine now brat and me and mine will look after you till the end of life's adventures, no matter what you choose to do or where you choose to go the name of Whitebeard is yours forever brat," he told her firmly.

"That you will also carry Marco's name and his words with you wherever you go is a side note of relevance only to you and to him, it has nothing to do with me other than to hope the two of you will find happiness together in whatever form that may take," he assured her a bit more gently.

She stared up at him pretty green eyes wide with surprise and her lower lip trembling slightly. He could see doubt lingering in those eyes and couldn't blame her for it. Like many of his other sons it would take time for her to come to accept that she was one of theirs, time, patience and love. That was okay though, he was a patient man, had to be with so many rowdy brats running around, he could wait. In the meantime..."

"Oy brats!" he bellowed out over the deck, causing everyone to come to a standstill a hush falling over the deck for the first time that evening, as they all turned their attention to him, "A toast! To my newest beautiful daughter! Your sister!"

A loud roar of agreement came from the assembled pirates who raised their glasses in celebration. A moment of silence following as they cheerfully drained the contents and went back to whatever they were doing. 

Out of the corner of his eye he could see his new daughter discreetly rubbing tears off her cheeks. He kept his gaze averted to give her privacy, even as his oldest brat literally winged his way over, a grateful smile on his face as he landed with practiced ease on the arm of the chair and gathered his emotional soulmate into his arms.

He smiled softly at the pair of them, glancing around he spotted Jozu, who was looking their way and gave him a proud nod, amused to see the slight blush on the face of one of his more stoic commanders. Jozu had made the right call sending Violetta over to him. He was glad he'd been able to speak to her, to begin putting some of her fears to rest. She would be a good daughter, and a good soulmate for Marco of that he was sure.

…~oO*Oo~…

"You alright ~yoi?" Marco asked gently as he guided her into their rooms. It had been a long day for them, and when he'd seen her getting emotional over by Oyaji he figured she probably wanted to be done. From her relieved expression it looked like he'd guessed correctly.

"I'm fine," she told him wiping her eyes and giving him a fond smile, "I just... Your Oyaji is something else huh?"

He decided that now wasn't the time to point out that their captain would be more than happy to be her Oyaji too, had in fact already decided she was his daughter, and was just waiting for her to cotton on, and instead just nodded his agreement.

"How did you meet him anyway?" she asked curiously.

"That your first question for the night ~yoi?" he asked lightly. 

She glanced up at him and smiled brightly, apparently pleased he'd remembered their little game and wanted to keep playing, "Sure, but talk to me while I get ready for bed? I'm exhausted."

He nodded in agreement, and watched surprised as she walked to the bathroom and left the door open, glancing at him to show she was listening he took that as his cue.

"You remember how I told you yesterday about flying until I couldn't anymore after I escaped the World Nobles?" he asked carefully. She nodded, a grimace clear on her face, as she turned to the sink and began to brush her teeth.

"So the island I landed on was pretty deserted. It was a fall island in the middle of winter, and the only inhabitants were this strange tribe of monkey like creatures, who were extremely hostile to invaders," he began with a wry smile, "Luckily by then I'd gotten pretty good at fighting, and this time when they attacked me I healed right away."

"I'm not actually sure how long I stayed there, but it felt like forever ~yoi. All I did during that time was fight, fight and hunt and try to survive as best I could," he explained, "It was a tough existence and despite the fact that I can't get frostbite I can still feel cold. On that island I was cold pretty much all the time. If it wasn't for my Devil Fruit I probably would've died on that island either from fighting the monkeys or from exposure or illness."

Talking about it he could almost see the cold, dead landscape of that place stretching before his eyes, and feel the wind cutting straight through the rags leftover from his days as a slave and chilling him to the bone. He remembered, there were times on that island that he never thought he'd be warm again. The feel of a warm hand on his shoulder pulled him out of his thoughts about the cold, and he glanced up to see Violetta had stopped washing her face, and had come over, clear concern in her emerald gaze.

He placed his hand over hers and squeezed her fingers gently, grateful for the comfort. It had been a long time ago, but the memories haunted him even now. It was why he hated the cold, not that many outside of Oyaji knew that. 

She stayed close as he continued, "One day there was a commotion on the island. It was a pretty small place, enough so that the commotion the monkeys were making caught my attention. I got curious, and went to investigate. I knew better than to fly by then because the bright color of my wings caught their attention every time, though I had gotten better at it, practicing and trying to get up the courage to leave. Anyway I climb over a hill just in time to see this huge guy lay the entire tribe of monkeys out flat with just the swing of his fist, knocking them all for a loop."

"I was shocked to say the least," he told her with a fond smile, remembering how he'd nearly toppled down the hill he'd been standing on in surprise, "After all even I could only take on two or three at a time, this guy laid out over thirty of them."

"Anyway I didn't know Observation at the time, but this guy did, and he looked right at me and asked me if I'd like to join him in taking the food the monkeys had. Of course by then I wasn't exactly the most trusting of people, so I ran away instead," he explained.

"Understandable considering all you'd been through," she told him sliding sideways into his lap where he was perched at the edge of the bed and wrapping her arms around his neck, apparently sufficiently distracted from getting ready for bed, and wanting to either comfort him or cuddle, not that he cared either way so long as he got to hold her.

"Yeah I suppose," he replied absently breathing in her scent and folding her as close to his chest as he was able, "I'm not sure what made him decide to stay, but stay he did. Everyday he'd fight with the monkeys for a bit, and get some food, and every day I would go watch. He'd then offer some to me, looking straight at me, no matter where I hid, and trust me I hid in some pretty impressive places ~yoi."

He grinned remembering his frustration with how easily the strange man seemed to be able to find him, no matter where he was or when he arrived to watch he always seemed to know he was there. Later when he'd learned about Observation he'd been more than a little annoyed, knowing nothing he could've done would've hidden him from Oyaji.

"The man remained patient with me, and when I ran he never tried to find or follow me, and eventually my curiosity overcame my wariness. I sat down and ate some of the food he offered. Eventually he won my trust, and when he decided it was time to leave he offered to let me come with. It was a no brainer by then. After all he'd shown me more kindness in that time than any other person in my life up until that point. It took me a bit longer to start calling him Oyaji, because of all the terrible memories I had of my old man selling me off, but eventually I got over it, and I was glad I did too," Marco reminisced affectionately, "Never seen Oyaji smile as happily at me as he did when I called him Oyaji for the first time."

"Mm I'm glad you found each other, like I said he seems like a good man," she told him resting her cheek on his shoulder.

"Me too," he replied honestly, "So anyway that's the story. Is it my turn to ask a question now?"

"Sure," she told him with a huff of amusement he felt rather than heard, "Ask away."

"We've talked a lot about my childhood now, so what about yours, what was yours like ~yoi?" As she was sitting in his lap he felt her entire body go rigid where before it had remained relaxed in his grip. He grimaced, so it was just as bad as he thought it was. He'd had his suspicions of course, but this confirmed them.

"I suppose it would be unfair considering just how open you've been with me to say it wasn't very pleasant and leave it at that," she told him with grim good humor, her grip tightening on his shoulders before relaxing.

"Alright, alright you asked for it, don't interrupt me," she warned, and he nodded pressing his lips gently to her hair and waiting.

"I guess as a preface I should remind you my parents died when I was a baby, just a little over a year old," she began quietly, "And that because of the way they died I became famous."

"For my own safety one of the more influential Light-sided wizards, a man named Albus Dumbledore decided that I should be raised away from the Magical community and my fame, to ensure that I didn't become a spoiled brat with all the attention and adulation they would've tried to heap on me."

"It made sense I suppose, though I wish he would've gone about it differently, as it was though he decided the best route would be to leave me with my mother's Nonmagical sister, my Aunt, Petunia, her husband Vernon and their newborn son Dudley because the spell used to save my life was powered by my mother's sacrfice and because blood is a powerful thing in my world and Petunia and my mother were blood related, special protections could be erected using the remnants of power leftover from my mother's sacrifice."

"Unfortunately my Aunt Petunia deeply resented her sister, my mother, for a lot of things I suppose," she told him with a sigh, "For one my mother was beautiful, with the most amazing crimson hair and green eyes, Petunia was far more average in looks, my mother was magical, Petunia was not, my mother married into what was essentially nobility, to my father who was no slouch in the looks department either, and my aunt married Vernon a middle class bore who had more in common with a boar and an attitude and temper to match."

"To say they resented having me 'thrust upon them' would be an understatement," she admitted bitterly, "I was a burden, unwanted, unloved, useless, and ugly to boot."

He could practically hear her quoting her relatives word for word, and his heart ached for the child she had been. No child deserved to feel unwanted or to hear such things from the people who were supposed to raise her.

"I understand now that I must've reminded Petunia a lot of my mother, especially my eyes, and I think, no I know that while once upon a time she might've cared for my mum she'd allowed her jealousy and resentment to turn to hatred, and she took it all out on me," she explained far more calmly than Marco would've suspected her tone almost dead, "I wasn't ever allowed to be better than their son. I wasn't allowed to get better grades, wasn't allowed to be better behaved, and certainly wasn't allowed to have better things."

"I dressed in Dudley's cast off rags most of my life, and quickly learned to play dumb lest I be punished. They never hit me or anything like that," she hurriedly explained, apparently sensing his rising anger, "But they would lock me in the cupboard under the stairs, which was my bedroom most of my life, without food, or just the barest scraps of bread and water for days sometimes weeks on end, alone in the dark. I think they shoved me in there sometimes hoping to forget me, but then eventually what little consconse the two had would kick in and they'd let me out again."

Marco grit his teeth in fury to keep himself from saying anything. Already her explanation explained a lot about her personality. Like how she would chose death over captivity. It was beginning to sound like she'd spent most of her life trapped, it was no wonder she wanted to be free so badly. 

"When I wasn't locked in my cupboard I was out doing chores, weeding the yard, maintaining the garden, sweeping, dusting, cooking, I did all of it, and if anything was a hair out of place I was punished," she listed off quietly, "And if I ever _ever_ did any sort of accidental magic like I mentioned most all magical children do or even mentioned the word 'magic' or referenced anything that might be 'magical' in their presence I was punished."

"My cousin Dudley and his gang of friends, got in on the act too. When I was at school he bullied me relentlessly, pushing me around and sometimes beating on me, along with anyone who tried to befriend me, needless to say it was a rather lonely childhood," she told him tiredly, "And I think it was part of why it was so easy for the people I met later in life to manipulate and use me. I was so desperate for positive human interaction that I latched on to the first scrap of kindness I was shown and held on doggedly, despite evidence the relationships were bad for me because part of me believed no one else would see me worthy of that kindness."

Marco's grip tightened on her, and he knew it had to be nearly painful, but she didn't seem to mind, clutching him just as tightly back. He wished more than anything he could go back in time, and find some way to rescue or protect his soulmate, who'd been suffering while he lived easy on the Moby. He understood now some of what she must've been feeling when he told her his story. He almost wished these relatives of hers would appear in this world so he could wreak bloody vengeance on them, pirate style, even if he knew such a thing was impossible.

"There were other little things too like Aunt Marge, Uncle Vernon's sister when she came to visit, setting her dogs on me, it's how I got so good at climbing trees. I had to be to escape getting mauled," she told him sardonically, and he remembered her mention of it their first day with a grimace, he'd asked himself then what kind of childhood she'd had, he knew the answer now, a shitty one, the worst kind of childhood anyone could have, which was to say no childhood at all.

"Still in some ways I'm grateful," she told him, and he couldn't help the small noise of surprise.

"Between their insults and hatred I grew a pretty tough skin, between Uncle Vernon regularly referring to me as "the freak" and Aunt Petunia saying things like she'd like to 'rip my ugly green eyes right out of my face' when she got into her cups I was more than prepared to deal with my enemy's threats. After all it doesn't mean nearly as much coming from a stranger behind a mask as it does from the family that's supposed to love you," she admitted.

He didn't say anything. He couldn't think of anything to say. His heart ached for her, for the lonely, hurt child she'd been. If that had been her childhood, and she'd spent her school years and later her adult life fighting it was no wonder she seemed so hurt and tired. She'd never been given the chance to live. 

Knowing her story made his resolve to see her happy, protected, cherished, and loved as much as he possibly could that much stronger, and he pressed his lips to her hair, quietly rocking her back and forth in the silence that followed taking a moment to just relish in the fact that despite everything, despite how much she'd been through she was here now, in his arms, and she would never be made to suffer ever again, not while he had breath in his body.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of scales on wood, and he glanced down to see Sessha, the Yuda, twining her way up Violetta's leg and eventually settling in her lap, raising her body so she could be face to face with his soulmate. He'd heard from his brothers that the little sea snake had spent most of her day exploring the ship. Everyone had been forewarned that she was a guest, but only a few had dared to approach.

Cas had apparently been one of those few, when he wasn't stalking him and his soulmate he'd evidently been sneaking the Yuda bits of meat and fish from the kitchen. He wasn't sure if that was more amusing or concerning considering his right hand's penchant for trouble.

He listened as the two of them spoke to one another in that strange sibilant language that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. There had to be something magical involved in speaking the language, there was no way the human tongue was meant to contort in the ways it must be to be making the sounds she was.Eventually the snake decided to slide off her lap and into the basket they'd bought for her earlier, though not before shooting him a dangerous look, one that made his hackles rise slightly.

"What was that about ~yoi?" he asked once the Yuda was settled.

"She thought you upset me," Violetta explained casting an affectionate look at the snake, "She could sense my unhappiness and thought it was because of you, and was offering to bite you for me."

"I see?" he said though it came out more like a question than he'd meant it to, casting the snake a wary glance. He may heal from the bite but it would still hurt like hell. He wasn't sure how he felt about having her close by if she may attack at any time, especially if she was going to be sticking around while they slept.

"Don't worry," she assured him with a giggle, apparently sensing his unease, "I convinced her it wasn't your fault."

He nodded slowly not sure he could trust that given the look the snake had given him, but figured since Violetta's mood had obviously been lifted it would be worth it if the Yuda decided to bite him in his sleep in revenge.

"Well that's reassuring ~yoi," he told her trying to sound more confident than he felt, deciding to change the subject for the sake of his dignity, "Would you like to continue our little game, or would you prefer to go to bed?"

"Well I'm not done getting ready yet, I got distracted," she told him nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck, and managing to firmly distract him in the process, "So maybe just a couple more questions, but keep them light. I don't really want any more heavy emotion tonight. I'm exhausted."

"Alright," he agreed, figuring it was more than fair, "It's your turn then."

"How'd you meet Thatch, if that isn't too heavy a question," she asked as she stood from his lap and headed back to the bathroom. He stood himself figuring he might as well be getting ready too.

"Ah funny story actually, Thatch joined when he was pretty young," Marco explained with a fond smile, "And he was a scruffy little brat, tough as nails and ready to take on the world at only fifteen."

"He'd been causing trouble on one of our islands, trying to attract Oyaji's attention on purpose. We were fairly well established by then so people were wanting to challenge him, as a test of strength," he elaborated. Those had been good times, back when Roger was around and they met up for epic length fights every few months or so. He remembered back then the now Yonko Shanks and a weird blue-haired kid with a big red nose had been cabin boys on Roger's ship.

"We got to the island, and he tried to ambush Oyaji, as he didn't know about Haki at the time, as you can imagine it didn't work so well, he kept trying though, determined as he was to fight, eventually Oyaji knocked him out," he explained as he quickly changed into comfortable shorts, noting that she was too busy braiding her hair to notice anything he was doing, and figuring he'd get it out of the way so he wouldn't potentially embarrass her later.

"I honestly figured Oyaji would've just left him there, should've known better by then," he told her shaking his head in fond exasperation, "Oyaji's got a bit of a sense as to who needs him, so of course instead of just leaving him where he lay he slings the brat over his shoulder and brings him aboard the Moby. I tried protesting. He was pretty young, and fairly naive for this part of the Grand Line, but Oyaji was determined, arguing that there were younger out there, and if Thatch was going to make trouble it might as well be under his name."

"When Thatch woke up we were already out at sea, needless to say he wasn't exactly pleased with his kidnapping, but he did eventually come around. He was fairly reasonable about it though we did have quite the rash of retaliation pranks aboard the ship for a while. Brat was pretty good at them too, caught me more than once. I think he was testing us to see if he could make us angry enough to kick him out, needless to say it didn't work, not over something like that, eventually he settled down though, or at least toned it down a bit," he told her sitting back down on the bed to wait for his turn in the bathroom.

"For whatever reason he latched on to me during that time and was always hanging around or bugging me for things, asking questions, begging for training, that kind of thing. At first I tried to discourage him, but as you've probably seen by now the brat is pretty persistent. I think he thinks its funny even now to try to get a reaction out of me, namely because for the longest time I did my best not to react to his pranks at all, anyway that's how I met him," he explained with a shrug.

"Bathroom's all yours," she told him with a smile, stepping aside so he could step in.

"What's your favorite game?" he asked figuring that had to be a fairly light question. He was surprised to see her face light up as he began his ritual nightly shave.

He listened as she began to ramble about a game named Quidditch, that she'd evidently played and loved throughout school. He tried to listen he really did, but as she talked she began to strip, either not realizing or not caring that he could see her reflection in the mirror. He watched mesmerized as the gorgeous purple dress she'd been wearing, the one that had taken his breath away, fell to the floor, and nearly choked on his tongue as he realized she hadn't been wearing a bra underneath it, just a pair of black lace panties.

He winced as he accidentally cut himself with the razor, grateful that it healed right away hiding the evidence of his distraction, and forcing him to focus on the task at hand. He wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or relieved that all he'd been able to see was her bare back, as she was dressing with her face toward the bed.

Forcing himself to focus he listened as best he could about broomstick flying, strange murderous self-directed cannonballs and a winged walnut, as she wriggled her extremely shapely rear into her pajama pants, wincing as he cut himself again, biting back a curse and reminding himself that this was his soulmate and he needed to be respectful.

Luckily for his self-control she finished dressing before she finished talking and he was able to finish the rest of his shave while listening properly.

"Can you get drunk?" she asked when she'd finished up her explanation and turned to sit on the bed, waiting for him to be done.

"No ~yoi," he told her with an amused smile, knowing it had to be the subject of many of the conversations she'd had with his brothers on deck that night, "My Fruit evidently views it as poisoning and instantly heals me of any and all affects. That particular part of my abilities is completely out of my control, so I couldn't even if I wanted to."

"What's your biggest pet peeve?" he asked quickly turning to brushing his teeth so he could brush as he listened.

"You know I'm not sure," she told him thoughtfully, "There are a few things I find intolerable, cowardice and traitors among them, but I wouldn't really call them pet peeves. Oh wait I know! Missing the toilet."

Marco choked on his toothbrush, and hurriedly spit, coughing all the while as he turned to look at her.

"Repeat that~yoi?" he asked a little shocked.

"What it's gross!" she told him a smile tucked into the corners of her lips, eyes dancing with amusement even if her tone was dead serious, "I mean I know you men have your little games, whatever, just get it in the bowl okay?"

"I promise I will always aim properly," he assured her seriously, deeply amused by her answer, as he rinsed and stalked toward the bed, swinging himself into the position by the wall, and wriggling under the covers.

"You better," she told him snuggling up to him completely unabashed, her head resting on his chest, "We share that toilet after all."

He chuckled amused and tucked her head under his chin, "I'll keep that in mind, sleep now though, we're weighing anchor first thing in the morning so there will all sorts of shouting in the morning."

"Mmkay," she agreed with a sigh, "thanks for the warning hopefully I won't jump again."

"Either way don't worry about it," he assured her lightly, "You'll get used to it."

"I hope so," she told him with a yawn, "goodnight."

"Night ~yoi," he told her rubbing his hands down her back and cradling her close, "sleep well."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're officially 1/3 of the way done! I'm so excited! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, I know there was some heavy stuff in there, but I felt it was needed for character development. I only hope I did the very real issues mentioned justice in their portrayal.  
> Also over 200 kudos!?!? Thank you so much! I really appreciate everyone who left kudos or commented! If you've got questions and want to message me I only realized recently that apparently my ask box on tumblr was closed (whoops!). It's open now, and the username is EvenescentTranquility same as here :) so feel free to use it if you prefer that method!


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